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Rittenhouse &Arbery Rulings: A Reponse

November 19th & 24th

Amerikkka

By: anm

November, 2021

: David Patrick Schranck Jr. & David Leferve on behalf
of the UOY DSA Organizing Committee:

On the night of August 25th, 2020,

: Kyle Rittenhouse shot three people, killing
: two and injuring one, who were attending a
: Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha, WI
: in the wake of the police shooting of Jacob

Despite what so many think tanks say about freedom and self defense :
—the privilege white A merikkka loves to cling on to— | am reminded :

later. And yet Rittenhouse carries an M &P-15, takes lives and crieson :
the stand for his freedom. Isn't this the Amerikkka we have known :
to suf er and fear in? T at |, with melanated skin, could be locked <
away or gunned down on awhim of thewhite nationalists around me. -

killed while jogging for assumptions that are no responsibility of my :
own becausemy melanin isthreatening. But when whiteskinturnsred :

their racism and tolerating the murder of us, melanated, because we : !
: be the perpetrator of a series of break-ins

are a threat to them.

for murdering their rapists and abusers get no room or lopophole :
to claim to self-defense. Cynthonia Brown imprisoned for 15 years, °

gravestones.

never be found when the loopholes of the law can be highlighted :
for white Amerikkka with crocodile tears but not the dead, silent or :
silenced melanated victims of Amerikkka. And yet, a white teenager :

But what of every slaughtered black and brown person's innocence? :

What of our innocence and right to gather and challengethe systems :
: Black people. It is a government founded

murdering us?

Depictions of whitesupremacy as wecelebratewhitesupremacy.T at's : Blake. Rittenhouse, who was a minor at the

as poetic and telling as it can be in another day of living melanated : time, had traveled across state lines with

in Amerikkka. To not only have to experience the watering down of : a9 AR-15 assault rife he didn’t own under

genocide each year and the celebration of it, but to witness the justice : the guise of defending private property and

system that was born from genocide release another white murderer. : Private capital af er the unrest in the city had

led to property damage on previous nights.
On November 19th, 2021, Rittenhouse

of of the starts of my own activism: the story of Tamir Rice, a black : Was acquitted on all charges against him

12 year old boy who died playing with atoy gun outside of hishouse : for his actions on that night. T e UO

gunned down in seconds by the police, his sister detained moments : Young Democratic Socialists of America

unequivocally condemns this verdict, the
precedent it creates, and the darkest elements
of American society it represents.

During the af ernoon of February

| could be killed without consequence to my murderers. | could be : 23rd, 2020, Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed

Black man, was chased down, shot, and
killed by three whitemen: Travis M cM ichael,

with fear or disgust and | am the target, | become their responsibility : Gregory McMichael, and William Bryan

to betaken careof.T ey areexecutioner, jury, and judge.In their own : Jr, while he was out jogging. T ese men

court of law.T eir own culture based upon excusing and actingwithin : killed Arbery because they claimed that

they believed, with no evidence, him to

When will Amerikkka and its white constituents realize they are the : that had occurred in their neighborhood.

threat to us? T ey are murdering us in the street, they target us and : On November 24th, 2021, the McM ichaels

minimizeus. Yet wedo not get to yell self defense; women locked away : and Bryan were all found guilty of multiple

charges, including murder. Our organization
commends this verdict, overcoming a nearly

parole for 10. Philandro Castile, a licensed gun owner, killed as he : all-white jury, but we recognize that even

reaches for his documents proving he has as much right as anyone : this result will not fully deliver true and

else. We do not get the mercy of self defense. We get lies, lead, and : [asting justice.

Te United States of America

Justice will never be found in systems made so obviously against us. : Was created by white settler-colonialists

Justice can never be served when white bodies, whether prosecution, : Who committed genocide against Native

defense or judge, are the only ones arguing in the room. Justice can : Americans and dispossessed them of their

land and whose entire economic system
was constructed around the exploitation
of Africans forced into chattel slavery. It is

may hold and operate a Smith & Wesson M&P-15 in public space : @ State that has continued and deepened

and walk away free of consequence. He has of cers, the public and : these divisions afer the failure of post-

judge defending on his behalf because of his youth, his innocence, : Civil War Reconstruction by enforcing

brutal apartheid conditions and continually
criminalizing people of color, particularly

Coos Of Campus kick-of

by land-owning white men and designed to
ensure their power and inf uence above all
other citizens. Under these circumstances,
the verdict in the Kyle Rittenhouse case
cannot be seen as an anomaly nor does it
represent a failure of the system. T e United
States’ criminal “justice” system is working
just as designed. Additionally, we must also
acknowledge that the conviction in the case
of thethreemen who killed Ahmaud Arbery
does not truly represent enduring change as
carceral solutions to the deep-seated horrors
of American racism will always beinef ective
and insuf cient.

T ese cases must remind us that
history is not a continual trajectory of
increasing progress, but is instead a constant
struggle between oppressed and oppressor.
T e harm committed by these white men,
although occurring under very dif erent
circumstances, all are representative of a
culture that has emboldened and approved
white supremacist vigilante violence As
an organization of anti-capitalists across
the lef -wing spectrum, we recognize that
the resistance against white supremacy
is integral to class struggle as a whole. We
commit to acting in solidarity with groups
who are organizing in our community and
across the nation against white supremacy
and the prison industrial complex.
Additionally, we are compelled to make
clear that although some short-term reforms
(such as electing progressive prosecutors,
moving towards the decriminalization of
petty and non-violent of enses, working to
defund and dismantle police departments,
etc.) can bring about some minor but
important progress, ultimately we have to be
constantly pushing towards abolishing our
deeply corrupted and racist prison industrial
complex and rebuilding from scratch with
a new, bold vision of achieving true justice
and accountability for victims of harm. T e
people are yearning for change and we have
an obligation to ceaselessly f ght to achieve
these ambitious and urgently necessary
goals.

ASUO insider reveals Student A ctivity Fees funding police survelllance through Duck Rides

By: Eric Howanietz

Cops Off Campus launched their November
4th kickoff meeting to a packed lecture hall at UO.
The Group has recently changed names from
Disarm UO to Cops Off Campus (COC) to support
a larger police abolitionist movement unfolding
across the region. Despite this regional merger the
group still has much of the grassroots character of
its previous iteration as Disarm UO. Turnover in the
group from student graduations appear to have only
temporarily hindered the group and it has begun a
pivot toward a more open and public organization.

Organizers emphasize that when the group
took off during the 2020 George Floyd uprising
there was a determined effort to cement the group’s
mission as an abolitionist, anti-racist, and anti-
capitalist group. This appears to have been well
thought out in a series of detailed statements the
group presented at the beginning of the Nov 4th
meeting. This has also meant that the group has
rejected reformist proposals and dialogue with
UOPD administration, such as those led by the

Associated Students of the University of Oregon
(ASUO).

The narrative that COC presents shows
how the creation of the UOPD in 2011 is in no
way a longstanding institution of UO that cannot
be dismantled or reversed. The UOPD’s inception
coincided with a broad Neo-liberal restructuring
that occurred across campus at that same time
and emphasized the interest of private donors and
corporate partnerships. This overall move towards
privatization even restructured the Universities’
governing body the Board of Trustees. Despite
overwhelming student opposition to the creation of
the UOPD, the Oregon Senate passed SB 405 with
heavy lobbying from corporate funded PACs and
wealthy donors leading the charge.

The ultimate goal of Cops off Campus is
abolition of police. But they note that the UOPD
currently has no civilian review board, and no formal
complaint process, giving UOPD broad unchecked
powers in its jurisdiction. Even more worrying

is that the UOPD arrests and uses force against
black people at a rate roughly five times relative to
population, according to COC’s literature. UOPD
has also been involved in an alarming number of
police shootings of people of color, including the
2019 killing of Eliborio Rodriguez.

One serious issue that Cops Off Campus
is currently working to change is the UOPD’s
aggressive takeover of the former Campus Safe
Rides, now called Duck Rides. Safe Rides was
initially envisioned as branch of the UO Women’s
Center with a mission of preventing sexual violence
on campus. Safe Rides operated independently for
years but in 2018 was facing operational difficulty
and a partnership with UOPD was set in motion
to relieve staffing and vehicle maintenance issues.
Soon after this partnership began the already
underpaid staff was faced with police domination
of what was originally envisioned as a collective
feminist empowerment organization. Dashcams
were installed in Safe Ride vehicles and UOPD

Continued next page >>>>>>>>>

CIA, Go Away!

In the frst couple weeks of November,
undergraduate and graduate students across all
departments received their weekly advising emails.
T ose of us who actually read these newsletter
updates couldn't help but noticea curious opportunity
announced in f ne print:

CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENGY (CIA) UD
REGRSITING EVENTS

“THE Cla (8 THE PREMIER AGENCY RESPONSIBLE
FOR PROVIDING GLOBAL UNTELLIGENGE ON) THE
EVER-CHANGING POLITICAL, SOGIkL, ECONOMIC,
TEGHWOLOGIGAL AMD MILITARY ENVIRONMENT. YOUR
PRAMOSNT GOL KMD MISSION WILL BE TO PROTEGT
THE WATIOWAL SECURITY OF THE UNITED STATES.
VIRTSALLY AMY JOB YO Gia M UMAGINE IS KWAILABLE AT

THE GlA — AL9S, SOME 104 CANT EVEN IMAGINE...

CONNEGT WITH OSPR WEST GOKST Cla REGRNITER ON-
ChMPSS TO LEAR A MORE KBOST INTELLIGENCE GKREERS
AMD LIFE kT THE Gla. *BRING PARD COPY RESUMES*
Gla ON-CAMPUS CAREER EVENTS”

SCHEDSLED TO TRAE PLAGE QW 11/9 & 11/10 GONRTESY
OF TYKESOM CAREER AND ADVISING

T israised some questions: who arranged for the CIA
to recruit on campus, and why? Most importantly,
what can we do to stop it from happening?

During a time of resurgence for campus
organizing, with groups such as Cops of Campus
calling for the abolition of campus police presence,
nothing feels like more of a challenge to these causes
than an open invitation for the world’s cops to come
poach young talent at the University of Oregon.
Luckily the GTFF -the university's backbone
mobilized a countermovement to denounce the CIA's
sneaky recruitment tactics and criminal legacy.

Members of GT FF called for ateach-in on the
af ernoon of November 10 in the courtyard outside of
Tykeson Hall, where just inside CIA recruiters were
stationed with the task of marketing global terrorism
Campaigns as a career advancement opportunity.

T e recruitment announcement itself came
abruptly, the countermovement against it even
more so. Despite the quick turnaround, the teach-in
drew about 30 individuals to attend and engage in
discourse about the military industrial complex on
college campuses.

T eteach-in was both an open forum and an
opportunity for speakersto build awareness about how
the CIA functions to enforce imperial hegenony—

FNGKI2

Cops of Campus Continued

began to use Safe Ride as what it termed,
“a second pair of eyes on campus.” This
has led to dashcam footage being used as
evidence by police. UOPD now sits in on
all Safe Rides (now Duck Rides) meetings
and the once devoted staff now worry
that the organization has strayed from its
community mission.

In a bombshell dropped by a

source inside ASUO at the Nov 4th Cops
Off Campus meeting, it was revealed
that 90% of Duck Rides is funded by fy
“I-Fees” directly paid for by students. The pe
implication of this is that student activity
fees (I-Fees) are now directly paying
for a branch of the UOPD and police
surveillance on campus.
In the coming weeks COC will be releasing
an extensive zine which details the
problematic relationship between UOPD
and the recently renamed Duck Rides.

$4,746,908
~~

By: J. Ellis

there were fve
speakers total that
spanned disciplines
from chemistry — to
philosophy. Each
addressed _ dif erent

ways the CIA has
caused harm globally,
and a UO graduate
educator kicked of
the round of speeches
by mentioning the
most radicalizing
Wikipedia list known
to man (you know
the one).! Afer this
speaker laid the
groundwork as to why oppose the CIA in the f rst
place, the second expanded upon this by describing
the agency as a “United States sponsored instrument
of death,” and called to put an end to campus
recruitment and overall abolition of the CIA. Every
speaker to follow echoed this sentiment, emphasizing
how the CIA solely exists to uphold the dynamics of
racial capitalism by inf trating institutions such as
governments, universities, and medicine.

Speakers traced the history of the CIA, its
legacy, and its interventions in global liberation
struggles. Like the police, the CIA was born out of
a unique sociopolitical context in history that is no
longer relevant to modern conditions. T e CIA was
established in 1947 at the dawn of the Cold War to
monitor Soviet counterintelligence, intended for
termination at the end of the war. So why has theClA
maintained relevance all these years later?

T e answer should be obvious by now: the United
States government made it prof table.

In President Eisenhower's 1961 farewell
address, he famously cautioned against a term he
dubbed the “military industrial complex,’ (MIC) a
phenomena that has since sedimented itself within
modern political economies. T e military industrial
complex made war a business, instead of a social
burden.

T e rest of the speakers explained how
these dynamics function in a recruitment setting,
discussing the “militainment” industry (i.e. Marvel,
Jason Bourne, Top Gun, Black Ops...) and other
enticement strategies. Much of the CIA's continued
relevance depends on f ashy optics such as these.

$6',135,712 mem:

yaASetrt

aa ”) dollars)

The cops dont keep us safe

crime was low, is low, and
didn’t decrease with the creation

of the UOPD

2071 DPS Becomes-UOPD

From its inception, the CIA engaged in propaganda
and clandestine operations to mold public perception

and maintain political approval. Mind you, this
isn't just heresy coming from a bunch of tinfoil-
hat-wearing conspiracy theorists: the operations
conducted by the CIA that were mentioned are all
public record, documented through testimonies from
former Presidents, CIA Directors, whistleblowers,
and academic works such asthe Stanford Law School's
2012 study “Life Under Drones: Death, Injury, and
Trauma to Civilians from US Drone Practices in
Pakistan.” Pakistan being the same country where the
agency also staged a fake polio vaccine drivein 2011.7

In the open forum following the speeches,
participants had the opportunity to share their
knowledge and lament imperialism. One attendee,
Jane Cramer, spoke on the CIA's long history of
undermining justice movements around the world,
allowing the United States to control any given
foreign states politics and resources. Cramer teaches
a political science course at the UO called “US
Interventions in Developing Nations,’ where students
study the many US military/CIA interventions of
the last century. Not only does Cramer consider the
agency's atrocities committed abroad, she is also an
astute watchdog locally; observing the subtle ways
the CIA operates to placate civilians, appeal to both
public and private interests, and cash in on the
military industrial complex.

Cramer explained the various tactics (both at
the event and later in a follow-up interview) that the
CIA uses to entice UO's sitting ducks to apply. It is
crucial to understand that much of the CIA's work is
carried out in thereportedly mundane analysis sector,
af eld of work that the agency tries to sell as routine
bureaucratic pencil-pushing— the perfect entry-level

Continues on pg. 5

} Tasers & Rifles ee
UO proposes to the then State

Board of Higher Education to form
the UOPD, ignoring the 78% of

<4 students who voted against it, citing Tifles with high-capacity maga-

UO Lobbies for Cops 2011 “the need to protect its property. zines, and a bomb sniffingdog. “"£, ,

In 2011, the Oregon Senate passes * Initially unarmed, the UO promises oe “4
SB 405, referred to by other ‘a “extensive campus conversations” Fach time it gets new weapons,
universities as “a UO bill.” that before arming. ; . UOPD reminds us it needs to
allows Universities to create police “catch up” with the techniques of violence
departments and hire officers with 2013 UOPD is Armed and surveillance used by other depart-
“all the authority and and immunity Despite UO’s “extensive ments -- so as long as UOPD is a PD, it’s
of polig ff of hs sake" i cqnversations” indicating the a question of when not if drones,
. commentity was opposed, LRADs, and chemical munitions will

; i come to UO’s campus and be used - !
against its students and community.

$8,215,364

It gets bigger...

UOPD was supposed to save
money, but cop budgets always

Grants Pass High School Protest: Student Response

Mass student walkout protests rehiring of transohobic teachers

By: Azzi Lescio

On Tuesday, November 16th, around 300
students at Grants Pass High School participated in
a walkout protesting the school board's decision to
reinstate two transphobic educators who were f red
in July. Media coverage up to this point has focused
unduly on the actions of a few counter protesters and
largely ignored student voices. T e following article,
which was written in collaboration with GPHS
students, is published to counteract this.

On March 25th, 2021, two staf members
at North Middle School, assistant principal Rachel
Damiano and science teacher Katie M edart, released
a video launching what they called the “I Resolve’
movement. It proposes policy changes that would
def ne sex as binary, force trans students to use
“anatomically-correct” bathrooms and changing
rooms, require parental approval for staf to use their
correct name and pronouns, and even then allow
teachers to refuse if they didn’t feel like it.

If implemented, these policies would put
many students in a position where their names and
pronouns are not respected, out some students to
others when they aren't ready, and put LGBTQ+
youth in dangerous situations. T e “resolutions”
proposed by Medart and Damiano are directly
harmful to LGBTQ+ students, especially those who
are trans and non-binary.

T e video's release was met by shock,
anger and mobilization by allies in the Grants Pass
community. Parents, educators, students and
community members formed a coalition
called “I Af rm” to counteract the pain caused
by the | Resolve movement and stand in
solidarity with LGBTQ + students by hosting ®
rallies and meeting with students to help them
organize further action. T e group and the
larger community also voiced their concerns
about Damiano and Medart in letters and |
phone calls to the district.

In response, the Grants Pass School
District board launched an investigation into
Damiano and Medart, culminating on July
15th in a 4-3 vote in favor of f ring them for
improper use of school time and resources.
Celebrations were short lived, however,
because on November 9th, they were both
reinstated af er a board member switched his
vote.

T is decision was like a slap in the face to
LGBTQ+ students. Saul Christensen, a transgender
freshman at GPHS, was appalled. “When | heard
about the reinstatement of Katie and Rachel it was
like a huge punch in the gut. My friends, |, and other
community members had worked so hard for months
to just get the school board to consider f ring them. It
was so sudden too. We didn't really have any time to
stop them or react beforehand.”

Saul was joined in his frustration by many
students across campus, includingsenior Evan Tucker.
“When | heard how Mr. Kuhlman voted, | was not
surprised; but | was still angry. | had a feeling it was
going to go this way from the pressure put on him
from his church, and from the big smiles on Damanio
and M edart’s faces as they came out of the executive
session. | was just met with so much disappointment.
T ey had let the student body down, and we knew
there was something we had to do about it.”

What they would do about it was decided
the next day at a Pride Club meeting, where Evan
collaborated with Deenie Bulyalert, a junior and the
president of Pride Club, to plan a student walkout
in protest of the reinstatement. T ey distributed
hundreds of f yers calling on students to support
their LGBTQ + peers. “If they will not give us a voice,
then we will f ght for one’, thef yers proclaimed, and
encouraged wearing purple to show support.

“From there, things took of ”, said Evan.
“Our message of protest spread quickly and sparked
additional protests at South Medford High School,
South Middle School, and North Middle School,
where Damiano and M edart had previously worked.”

4

Students at the Gladiola High School campus in
Grants Pass also walked out in support. On the day of
the protest, spirits were high. Hundreds of students
gathered in front of the school, along with dozens of
supportive parents and allies in the community.

Saul was pleasantly surprised by the turnout.
“Seeing So many people at the protest was crazy, and
not what | was expecting at all. It actually made me
a little emotional, but I’m sure a lot of other people
felt the same way. When | was walking through
the hallways | could spot so many people wearing
purple. | know that a lot of other people and allies
participated in the walk out with knowledge they
could easily be punished by their parents for it. So
many people standing up for my community was
really empowering, and | bet it was really shocking
for the people against our cause too. T ey thought
it would only bea small group of people, as did we,
but | think it just goes to show how tightly knit we as
youth are.”

Unfortunately, two adults from a _ local
religiousextremist group showed up to counter protest.
Evan was unsurprised. “While | was happy to see so
many students coming outside, | was nervous seeing
students unknowingly putting themselves at risk to
the right-wing extremist group “Salt Shakers;” who
would inevitably show up.”

T eRV Saltshakers, as they call themselves,
can be found around Southern Oregon and even in
Eugene on theUO campus, with inf ammatory signs;
one reads,

“OUR LIES, HATE, THEFT, GREED, LUST, PORN,
FORNICATION, LGBTQ, ABORTION, AND ALL
OTHER SIN EARN DEATH AND HELL. TRUST
JESUS! BE SAVED”;

othershavegraphic, exaggerated depictionsof aborted
fetuses. T ey are generally disliked by everyone they
interact with, and tend to be the type of people to go
out of their way to harass high schoolers.

Saul has a theory for why the students were
met with such hate. “I think that transphobes, older
ones especially, see the sense of love and familial
connection we have for one another and think,
‘Why am | not treated this way?’ T at questioning
of themself and the things they think they're assured
with then turns into a sort of jealousy. It brings on
the kind of mentality that’s like, ‘If | can’t be happy
with myself, then nobody can’ T e anger they feel
also comes from how in tune we are with ourselves
as trans people. We have a sort of connection with
our own feelings that is so unique, and cisgender see
that and feel envious from not being able to express
their individuality in the same way we do. It's a mean
cycle of doubt, turned into resentment, turned into
obsessive rage.”

T e walkout was planned to end at 2:07pm
when the bell rang for students to head back to 7th
period, and at that time most students returned to
class. Around that time, there were clashes between
the adult salt shakers and students who stayed
behind. T ecops eventually got involved and arrested
three teenagers: two GPHS students and asupporting
community member. A student, who asked to stay
anonymous, touched on these events.

“It is obviously not a secret that cops were at

the protest and that some individuals got arrested. It
frustrates me how the situation was handled because
instead of making the counter-protesters leave,
people who were instigating emotion and actions
done by some students, the cops just stood there and
did nothing. No action was taken by a cop until one
minor inconvenience took place where a student or
individual on the side of the LGBTQ + students did
something. It disheartened me that | was further
dug into my idea that cops don't respect us, and it
frustrated me even morereading the news report that
was released where an individual who was arrested
was misgendered multiple times.

“| feel like | spent so long trying to give
authority thebenef tof thedoubt, tryingto understand
where they are coming from, but watching your
friends cry and feeling their pain, watching a protest
that was meant to be peaceful get drowned because
adults who are supposed to have your back didn’t
want to do anything and instead went against you, felt
like another piece of my childhood got taken away
from me. Us students already had to acknowledge
that the school board is not on our side due to the
reinstatement, now we truly know that our whole
community is against us during a time that we need
the support the most.”

Despite the antagonism the students were
met with, Saul was optimistic. “I’ve learned to not try
to change the way people think, because above all else
their stubbornness will stay with them until they’re
on their deathbed and can’t remember anything else
besides how they feel about people who are
completely detached from society's ‘normal’
lifestyle. | don’t think that hate like that can be
reversed, but if | can bea part of encouraging
others to be wholly themselves, that’s a reward
that’s unique to everything else I've personally
accomplished.”

Evan also felt the walkout was a success.
“| Know students felt heard, and that they
i mattered. It was powerful seeing so many
| people f ght for what was right.’ T is feeling
~ was shared by most students who participated,
sand plans are already underway for next steps.
= “T is isn’t the last time that students are
f going to f ght for our voices,” says Deenie. “We
F___ have been quiet and silenced for too long, we

aretired and wearenot backing down without
af ght. T ereare potential events that will take place
at some point to stand in solidarity with LGBTQ+
youth. Students will continue to gather to talk
about ways to make the schools safer for future and
current students. Schools are institutions that kids are
required to go to; whether or not we have to f ght for
the things we need, we will continue to pave our way
through to create an environment that students truly
want to bein.”

Students are asking for two kinds of support. First,
people who want to support can email the school
board members, to thank the ones who voted against
reinstating Damiano and M edart (underlined below),
and explain to those who voted for reinstatement
the harmful impact that neglecting to follow school
policy and not listening to the voices of students has
in the district.

Scott Nelson- outhousedoc@gmail.com
Debbie Brownell- dbrownell @grantspass.k12.0r.us
Brian DeLaGrange bdelagrange@grantspass.k12.

Or.uS
Gary Richardson- glrichardson@grantspass.k12.or.us
Cassie Wilkins - cwilkins@grantspass.k12.or.us
Todd Neville tneville@grantspass.k12.o0r.us

Clif Kuhlman- ckuhlman@grantspass.k12.or.us

Second, funds are being raised to help cover legal
fees for students being charged with crimes for
participating in the protest and bail money for the
arrested community member. Donations should be
made to @siskiyoumutualaid on Venmo, with the
note “GPHS Solidarity.”

Who put Jul ius Jones
where heistoday?

By: TREY KODMAN
For7 eStudent /nsurgentat the University of Oregon

Right: T is photo is courtesy of the Oklahoma City Free Press on Oct. 17, 2021:
shows a march to free Julius Jones.

OKLAHOMA CITY- On November 18th, 2021, Julius Jones was scheduled

for execution by lethal injection in Oklahoma for the crime of murdering

Paul Howell in 1999, only recently contested by conf icting information from
other inmates associated with the alleged accomplice. With only a few hours
remaining, Governor Kevin Stitt granted clemency for Jones with no possibility
of commutation, pardon, or parole.

y Christopher Jordan (Photo of

) Christopher Jordan is courtesy of
Oklahoma Department of Corrections),
the alleged accomplice, was once a
teenager in the suburb city of Edmond,
OK. But af er the 1999 murder of Paul

in the driveway at the H owell family
residence, Jordan had other plans than
being accountable for his role in that
crime during the 2002 murder trial. His
plea deal with the state testifying against
Jones, claiming that is who shot Howell,
allowed him to be released from prison
by 2014 while Jones stayed on death row
awaiting execution. But before Jordan's
release from prison, he had revealed
crucial information about his trial and
lying while playing basketball and being remorseful with his fellow inmates
during his sentence.

One cellmate of Jordan's, Roderick Wesley, had internal conf ict compel
him to write a letter to Jones’ attorney, Amanda Bass, in July 2020. Wesley wrote
that Jordan had confessed to him between summer and fall in 2009, “my co-
defendant is on death row behind a murder | committed.”

CIA continued from pg. 3

job. Meanwhile, these operations are more explicitly sinister, agents in this line
of work are responsible for carrying out strategies developed by the CIA, such as
Operation Ajax.

T eCIA renders evil banal via bureaucratic detachment and f attering optics,
minimizing the moral implications of their mission by characterizing a day at
work like any other desk job: paperwork and aimless tasks. To prospective
employees, this proves ef ective enough for recruitment; the general information
meeting for recruitment on November 9th reportedly had 60 in attendance. T e
countermovement was roughly half that size.

T eagency’s warm reception on campus is just another example of the
marriage between military and educational industrial complexes. In fact, when
Eisenhower f rst coined the term MIC, he referred to academics as one of the
forces that fuels the system. Look into any reputable university in this country,
and in all likelihood you'll find they have close working relationships with
instruments of violence. Af er all, much of defense technology

movement in India:

By: banzai established was similar

A win for the
farmers of India! As
of November 19th,
Prime Minister M odi
said that he intends
to repeal the three
agricultural bills that
were put in place to push
for the privatization
and corporatization of
the farming industry,
leaving millions to be
exploited under the
hands of corporations.

For context, before
these laws were put into
place, the agricultural
system that was

to the one that existed in
the USSR. Farmers were
guaranteed a minimum
support price, or M SP,
for the crops that they
were able to produce.

T is resulted in national
food security as well as
a livable wage for the
farmers.

Later this November,
the Indian Parliament
will begin the process
of repealing the three
bills. While the protests
haven't entirely stopped,
negotiations regarding
reform have begun.

Over half of the
population is employed
in the realm of
agriculture, so this is
an issue that af ects
hundreds of millions
of people. Even though
no sort of reform is set,
it’s still a step forward
in farmers rights as
a yearlong worth of
protests are starting to
pay of .

See the f rst article
in this series in the

the Student Insurgent.

Wesley (Roderick Wesley mugshot is
courtesy of Arkansas Department of
Corrections) continued in the letter to
Bass, “If this man is wrongfully executed by
continuing to conceal this information, |
feel as if | would have had ahand in putting
this man to death, and | can’t live with

that on my conscience” Af er Wesley had
watched a documentary, T eLast Defense,
_ hesympathized once seeing the] ones

- family’s turmoil. Jones’ defense team was
elated yet challenged by this new information.

Jones’ appeals have occurred on death row for decades with no
success, yet he has always maintained his innocence before them. But this
clemency petition also cited statements from three dif erent people who shared
incarceration with Jordan. All three men said Jordan had separately confessed to
them that he had killed Howell and framed Jones. T is information inf uenced
athletes and celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Baker M ayf eld, Dak Prescott, and
Russell Westbrook to call on public support to have Oklahoma Attorney General
Mike Hunter allow the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board to hear Jones’
commutation request. Along with the expanding use of the pardon and parole
board's authority, under Stitt’s guidance, they approved commutations for about
500 prison inmates in 2019. T is use of an integral part of the corrections system
was non-existent in years prior.

Today, Jones can hug his mother for the f rst time af er 22 years now
that he is no longer incarcerated on death row. Lacking H owell’s mother hugging
her son, at least now a possibly framed man, and his testimony isn’t going to the
grave allowing the real murderer to walk free. But even with Jones stuck with no
chance of escaping life in prison, it is the state that owns the responsibility of the
murder, and this clemency approval proves that.

relies on innovation, aseemingly endless resource on university campuses.

T isphenomenon isoccurringnationally. Itiscommonplacefor university
advising departments to funnel its brightest students into the war machine;
whether working for the CIA, the FBI, the US Military, or defense contractors.
T eir deceptively simple recruitment strategies attract vulnerable students
seeking job security, and manipulate this need by trapping young professionals
in contracts that copyright and patent their organic intellectual property, which
strips them of their creative autonomy/agency before their lives have even begun.

T is entrapment is especially apparent at schools with robust STEM
programs, such as MIT or Arizona State (ASU). An engineering student at ASU
anonymously tipped the Insurgent onto the extent of power defense contractors
possess in the school’s research and development projects. At ASU, engineering
students have to complete a capstone research curriculum in order to earn their
degrees. In doing so, many initiate internships with companies that partner with
this program. It just so happens that most of the partner companies are some of

- the largest defense contractors in the world: Raytheon (one project), Honeywell
- Aerospace (twelve projects—some aerospace, some defense), Northrop Grumman
- (one project), and the US Air Force (one project).

According to the whistleblower, some project requirements mandate that

: students sign NDAs before they even really know what they are signing up for.
> Not only do their ideas become the property of corporations, but they may also
: think they are signing on to design the latest spacecraf and end up producing
: warheads. You may have to bea rocket scientist to qualify for a spot at Raytheon,
: but you certainly don’t have to be one to see the ethical dilemma these programs
> pose.

T e crowd that gathered outside Tykeson Hall that Wednesday took

; essential f rst steps in a much larger resistance against the union of the education
: and military industrial complexes at the University of Oregon. Saying no to
: the CIA is saying no to predatory recruitment, no to cops, no to war, and no to
> imperialism. Our def ance, whilesmall in scaleto what were up against, embodies
- a broader decolonial and egalitarian project that works to dismantle racial
: capitalism and the systems that uphold it. T e University’s continued invitation
: to military recruiters is veiled violence. If the school really means anything by its
: land acknowledgements or “statements condemning racism,” then structures of
: state and police violence would no longer be welcome on campus.

: 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_involvement_in_regime_change
November 2021 issue of > BBC: CIA's

‘fake vaccine drive to get Bin Laden family DNA. Reported 12 July 2011.

5

Worth M ore Standing!
UO Students Join Forest

Defenders To Rise Against f 7

Post-Fire Logging

By: Topaz

Have you ever stopped in the shade of a towering tree, and just looked
up? Have you ever felt a mystical tug to give a tree a hug? Have you ever soaked up
their love?

No way, same! But even if you're totally not that type... trees love you
anyway. T ey maintain ecosystem resilience against escalated threats and buf er
the world against climate change, providing us living things with continued
breathable air, drinkable water, and livable land. Forests also feature in all aspects
of human culture: language, history, art, religion, medicine, politics, and even
social structure itself. Our sense of being rooted in community is learned from
trees, as well as our sense of grounded emotional well-being.

So wrap your arms around a tree— theres a moment of serenity and
reverence waiting at every Douglas Fir, Western Red Cedar, Hemlock, Big-L eaf
Maple, Alder, Pine, and
Yew.

All of these species,
fa plus countless more
wereobser ved to bealive
mand thriving by forest
defenders in the post-
wildf re ecosystem of the
Breitenbush watershed,
located between
Portland and Eugene in
the Willamette National
Forest.T isareahasbeen
the site of the Highway
46 project since 2019,
B® which involves thinning
and logging to make
way for development
on privately owned
forest land— which is
actually land stolen by
settlers from Indigenous
peoples, many of
whose descendants
are now members
of the Confederated
Tribes of the Grande
Ronde, Confederated
Tribes of Siletz Indians,
Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, and Klamath Tribes. No timber sales on
stolen land!

T e Highway 46 project is being challenged by environmental groups
including the Cascadia Forest Defenders in a lawsuit af er the Forest Service
changed the logging agreement to remove more timber than had originally been
proposed. T esemodif cationscame following the 2020 Labor Day f res that swept
through the area, fueled by gusting, unpredictable winds, drought, and scorching
heat as a result of manmade climate change.

Salvage loggers and their allies at the American Forest Resource
Council claim that burned forests are choked with dead and dying trees,
which will fuel future wildf res, reduce public lands access, and create more
dangerous conditions for f ref ghters, forest workers, and visitors. Big
surprise— they're manipulating us! Salvage logging rips out recovering
ecosystems which are naturally able to thrive again post-f re, sells the
wood, and calls it “management.” T eharsh reality is that the entire West
must prepare for even more brutal wildf re seasons to come. Now is the
time to stand with the trees, which protect all life against the escalating
consequences of ecological destruction and climate change, including
wildf res. Loggers who appropriate the idea of “healthy forests, healthy
communities’ so they can make money are not to be trusted. Af er all,
any environmentalist knows the answer to the question, “What will
money buy when there are no moretrees?”

Sal vagel oggers’ business vent urein disaster capital ismcannot
kill our lived-intruth—Trees areal ways worth morestanding!

T at's why over 50 students, community members, educators,
and activists young and old risked arrest to protest post-fre logging
on Tuesday, Nov 16th, occupying a logging road in a section of the
Breitenbush watershed forest impending to be clear-cut. Behind a giant
blockade built from gathered branches, they learned about the lies of
salvage logging in Oregon and its logic of disaster capitalism, the wonders
e post-f re forest ecology, and the joy of participating in direct action.

Community members shared their knowledge and skills in a series of
workshops designed to educate and empower communities towards forest
defense. One workshop focused on af nity groups, which area strategy for small-
scale community organizing, action, and resistance. Other workshops included
f eld-checking, or gathering evidence about the state of an ecosystem, and hands-
on outdoor learning and discussion.

Activists were able to explore the forest behind the blockade and connect
with its renewed stage of life. For many, this occupation marked their f rst time
being up close to a forest ecosystem recovering from wildf re. T ey discovered for
themselvesalandscapeteemingwith nativeevergreens, shrubssuch ashuckleberry,
and several species of ferns. T e patches of blackened soil on the forest f oor were
spread with fungi, mushrooms, and biodiverse bunches of mosses and lichens. It
was fascinating to touch sections of char burned into the tree trunks, and observe
how so many species are able to withstand f re damage and continue to grow on,
even stronger than before.

If your heart has been broken by the wildf reseasons, realize that they will

continue to worsen as climate change unfolds and late-stage capitalism persists.
T esun glows redder and thesmoke blows thicker every summer. Climate change
is here, and it has been here. So f ght fossil fuels, and f ght the capitalist police
state that sits back and watches us burn.
If your heart has been broken by the wildf re seasons, realize that the earth's
shared defense against the quickly compounding risks associated with climate
change and environmental degradation exists in forests. T ey hold and protect
the soil, f Iter air, regulate water in ecosystems, manage the weather, protect rivers
and streams, and providelife. So keep on hugging trees, and shout it out— Worth
More Standing!

| encourage any UO students, faculty, staf, workers, and readers in
Eugene and beyond to rise in resistance to the destruction of forests— without
them, what would homebe?T row down your societal obligations to learn, grow,
and stand strong in forest defense... Because the trees need your love now more
than ever.

* Follow the work of environmentalist groups who helped organize this protest
on instagram: Cascadia Forest Defenders @treesittersunion, and Portland
Rising Tide @portlandrisingtide.

¢ Want to join other UO students passionate about forest defense? Email
climatejusticeleague@gmail.com to join Climate Justice Leagues forest
defense crew!

¢ Readers are also welcome to email us insurgentuo@gmail.com to learn more
about this direct action, or to express interest in plugging into local forest
defense af nity groups.

“STANDING A

be

.

SS

Fighting Disaste
Capital ismin Oregon’s™
fire Burned Forests

By: Matron Saint of Last Chances

While communities across the West continue to rebuild
from the literal ashes of fre seasons past, Oregonians are
witnessing the timber industry hastily take what's lef of our f re
burned forests. Post-f re logging is the West's brand of disaster
capitalism. In the af ermath of wildf res, thetimber industry turns
aproft by advancing extensive logging programs in the name of
“forest resilience’ and “community f re safety.’ Cloaked in nice
sounding euphemisms, post-f re clearcuts are still advancing on
public lands and National Forests around Oregon.

Immediately af er the historic 2020 Labor Day Fires, all
f re impacted public land was closed to the public. In the name
of public safety, gates were locked and no-trespassing signs were
erected in front of well-loved national forest campgrounds, trails
and backroads.

T en came the timber sales. Fire impacted private land
was liquidated just weeks af er the f res were out, and public land
was soon to follow, with public land managers working hand in
hand with Big Timber to advance plans to post-f re clearcutting.
Now, post-f re so-called “salvage” logging is planned behind
locked gates in the historic North Umpqua and McKenzie rivers,
the Santiam State forest, and the beloved Breitenbush watershed—
the site of decades of forest defense history.

T e Breitenbush watershed is home to the beloved
Breitenbush Hot Springs Retreat Center and surrounded by a
majestic old growth forest that ishometo spotted owl, salmon, and
a myriad of predators. Before the forced removal of indigenous
people by colonizers, this was a historic gathering placefor f shing,
hunting and soaking in the natural hot springs. Since the white
people began managing this forest, it has seen an endless string of
threats in the form of industrial logging.

In this very place on a snowy Easter Sunday morning in
1989, forest defense activists stood in the way of logging machinery
in an attempt to save centuries old trees from the chainsaws. Using
a multi-tiered creative blockade of the road, activists managed to
hold of logging for f ve days before being forcibly removed by
the police. Now known as the infamous “Easter Massacre,’ the
ultimately unsuccessful direct action resulted in the logging
of ancient trees in Breitenbush. Since the Easter Massacre, the
Breitenbush watershed has been the site of forest defense activism
again and again.

Following the historic 2020 f res, the Willamette Forest
Service clearcut old growth forest including spotted owl habitat
along salmon-bearing streams around the Breitenbush summer
home cabins. T e Forest Service failed to notify the cabin owners
before the cutting, and those who lost their cabins in the f res
were forced to endure an even greater tragedy upon returning
to fnd the surrounding old growth forest clearcut. Soon af er,
the Forest Service partnered with the Oregon Department of
Transportation to clearcut massive 200f corridors on either
side of the road system that weaves through the area. Now, the
Breitenbush watershed is once again on the chopping block as
the Willamette National Forest advances another plan to clearcut
century-old f re-impacted trees along the Breitenbush river. Even
as conservation groups havef led alawsuit to stop the cutting, the
Forest Service (in keeping with its scandalous tradition of lawless
logging), could very well move forward with clearcutting before
the judge ever gets the chanceto ruleon the case.

One need only look to the devastating cutting that has
already happened for amplereasonsto opposewhat'’sto come. Post-

f relogging turns f reresilient forests into tinder box plantations

f re rebirth. It also fuels climate change by releasing most of
the forest's stored carbon back into the atmosphere. T e ongoing
rampant post-f re logging in Breitenbush and across Oregon will ;
forever alter the landscape of our bioregion. T at is, if we don't
stop it.

Luckily, as long as there are forests standing, there will
be those who stand in the way of the machines that seek to level

them. In a beautiful testament to this fact, on afreezing morning &

this November, hours away from any city center, over ff y folks
def ed the federal closure order seeking to keep the public out of
federal lands and took a stand to draw attention to the lawless
post-f relogging proposed in Breitenbush. In an inspiring show of
love for the Breitenbush watershed, community members blocked
the logging road with an impressive slash pile and a repurposed
f re truck, and behind the barricade held a day of storytelling,
community building, teach-ins, live music and education about
the forest at stake Af er a confrontation with police, all 50
community members lef without arrest, but promised to be back
in anot-so symbolic action if the Forest Service moves forward :
with logging there.

As | have written here, this will not be the f rst or the
last forest defense struggle to happen in Breitenbush. Our forest
management agencies suf er from a powerful amnesia and will
continue to introduce irresponsible timber sale afer timber
sale. T ankfully though, our movement does not suf er from the
same memory loss. While the Forest Service will keep coming at =
our forests with chainsaws, forest defenders are building power,
growing our networks, and looking to a better future And
thankfully, we need not look so far.

For thousands of years theindigenous peoples of Cascadia
lived in harmony with fre, of en partnering with it in cultural
burning practices used across the landscape. T ese practices are ~
being reclaimed by tribes like the Karuk in Northern California
as a way to bring f reback whereit belongs and reduce the severity
of f rein places that have a history of industrial mismanagement.

We can also take leadership from indigenous land
defenders working to rematriate land occupied by timber
companies. Against most odds, the Mapuche people in Peru
are waging an incredible asymmetric battle to kick Big Timber
of their ancestral lands. T ey are setting logging machinery on
fre and then working with f re to remove young homogenous
timber plantations and initiate a process of ecosystem recovery
and life-af rming land management. T eUnistoten in northern
British Columbia have held of the construction of a network of
fossil fuel pipelines through their traditional lands by occupying
their historic forests and blockading the way with gardens, youth
centers and homes for their people.

T ese examples are part of our path forward. T ey’re
what we should remember when things feel intractable and
hopeless. T ey are what! hold in my heart as! stand in front of
the machinery of destruction.

Right now, some of the last remaining 3% of native, old
growth forests are being targeted for post-f re logging. Forest
defenders are mobilizing to oppose the logging planned in
Breitenbush and plan to do everything we can to protect what's
lef . But if were going to win, weneed more of us.

So join usin the Breitenbush watershed, or f ght where you
stand. But pl ease, for theloveof it all, fight.

= 7 XG F

Disaster Capitalist

Drowned Out on Campus

By: Fern & Dorian Blue

A regular Wednesday guest lecture on campus became an anti-logging
protest when a group of activists shut down a talk given by Tyler Freres

of Freres Lumber.

Feres, a third-generation logger, came to the University of Oregon
law school to talk about his company and the benef ts of the post-f re logging
practices his company employs. Freres and his company hope to salvage the land
that was burnt following the 2020 Summer Oregon wildf res, particularly the

Holiday Farm Fire.

During his justif cation of post-f re logging, Freres explained that

the logging benef ts the ecosystem. When an
audience member brought up ascientif c study
that proves just the opposite, Feres hastily
deemed the study inaccurate and “political.”

T ereality is that post f relogging causes
extreme harm to the recuperation of a forest af er
aburn.T ereisno substantive evidence that
post-f re logging benef ts a forest's ecosystem.
Rather, scientif c data indicates a heightened
f rerisk for logged areas while "hindering forest
regeneration and restoration by compacting
soils, damaging riparian corridors, introducing
and spreading invasive species, causing erosion,
adding sediment to streams, degrading water
quality, and removing trees utilized for habitat.” +

u_B4 :Aq sojoud

-. Local activists took to the scene by staging a
“% covert demonstration.

Approximately 40 minutes into Freress
talk, one activist spoke out with a question
regarding environmental concerns.

Before Freres could answer, several
more activists began bombarding Freres with
questions. A staggering majority of attendees
were there to protest, quickly drowning out
opposition.

Activists who had come prepared with
signs stood up and began leading a chant.
Chants included, but were not limited to:
“No more lies! Quit your corporate ties!”
“Forest defense is climate defense!” and
perhaps most poignant, “Quit your job!”

As quickly as the protest began, event organizers began trying to shut it
™ down. Oneindividual was calling for all students to leave while shoving her
= camera in peoples’ faces. Her attitude and f agrant use of a cell phone camera
evoked a particular Karen energy.

All the while Freres is silent, blocked by an entourage to shield him
from further interaction.Once the scene was made activists dispersed and
¥ lef the building, told that security had been called. Students were also told

that if they put their real email on the sign-up sheet that they would likely be

reprimanded, as demonstrations are required to be cleared in advance.

If activists had not shut down Freress talk, he would have continued
to spread misinformation and greenwash the lumber industry. His claim that
post-f re logging is needed for the recovery of a forest is baseless and rooted in
the capitalistic desire to take advantage of disaster.

Living and Fighting: Atlanta Activists Show Eugene H ow it’s Done

By: J. Ellis

Not so long ago Eugene, Oregon was the
hotbed of the green anarchy movement: a reputation
that resulted in feds kicking doors down in the
Whiteaker and the Chicago Tribune declaring this
small university town the “cradle to [the] latest
generation of anarchist protestors,” at the dawn of the
21st century. But let’sfaceit, Eugenes scenehastaken a
hit from the pandemic and fragmented lef ist disunity.
Its glory days are long over; many organizations have
struggled with loss of membership and participation
as Eugenes radical rep fades to memory. But hark!
T ereis hope yet. Eugenes radical pulse has recently
attracted a small pilgrimage of Atlanta activists, here
to check out the state of the scene in a place that once
def ned green anarchy.

On Friday night, November 5, the
Neighborhood Anarchist Collective sponsored a
presentation called “Living and Fighting: T elast ten
years of autonomous strugglein Atlanta from Occupy
to Defend the Forest,’ where a couple of organizers
from Atlanta showed Eugene how it’s done in 2021.
T eorganizers came bearing zines that detail the last
decade of anarchist struggle in the region. Next time
you'reat azineswap (or theROAR center) keep an eye
out for “At the Wendy's: Armed Struggle at the End of
the World,” “Don’t Die Wondering: Atlanta Against
the Police” and thesimple yet ef ective, “H ow to Start
a Fire: an invitation,” for exceptional and informative
reads about lessons from Atlanta direct actions.

8

T epresentation itself was inspiring, Atlanta
knows how to throw down. If you’re an organizer in
Eugene, you better have jotted mental notes. While
you may associate Eugene with trees sooner than
Atlanta, the city actually has the highest percentage
of tree canopy of any major metropolitan area in
America. As a result, the close proximity of forest
to this urban center has massive ramif cations for
issues of environmental justice. In Dekalb County,
the South River Forest was used as the site of a prison
labor farm throughout the 20th century. Now, the
city’s forest defense community is banding together
to prevent Hollywood from clearing this land -now
a public park- to build a production studio, and stop
the construction of a 300-acre “mock city” designed
for police training. Key to this struggles successes is
the diversity of participation at these direct actions.
Atlanta's activist community is composed of an array
of tightly interwoven af nity groups that show up
in enthusiastic droves for actions. Some standout
initiatives highlight the various approaches the ATL
scene uses and how they complement each other to
foster community solidarity. Projects, initiatives,
and groups utilize various facets to engage people in
their politics such as: community organizing spaces,
community kitchens/gardens, forest festivals, and
recreational activities like Bike Life, a collective that
gathers to ride BMX bikes in the Atlanta streets/
forests while doubling as some of its most staunch

defenders.

We can stand to learn a thing or two from
these Atlanta forest defenders as they exemplify what
ef ective community outreach and _ intersectional
organizing can look like. So, Eugene, let's not waste
anymore time. We have no excuse not to employ
tactics and strategies proven to be ef ective elsewhere,
so what's the delay? What is stopping you or your
organization, fellow organizers from throwing a rave
in forests scheduled for clearcuts, hosting that benef t
show/zineswap in your backyard, or scoping out spots
to start up our very own autonomous community and
organizing center? Let's organize with intention and
envision the larger goal of nourishing our very own
symbiotic mutual aid network. All of the building
blocks are already there, and the last few weeks of
direct actions and forest defense are a testament to
that. Meaningful networks are waiting to evolve
actualize these networks with a simple “hello, my
name is...” maybe followed by “solidarity,” and we
might just start to see the mobilization of hundreds
of people ready to take a stand for their land and
neighbors. Let's catch up with Atlantas momentum.

Keep up to date and learn about Atlanta's forest
defense and other organizing at the link below:

linktr.ee/D efendA tlantaF orest

~ Ingalsbee Speal

a0
Tim Ingalsbee, f reieo| ogiseand long-timelocal environmentalist,
= {rebutted claims made by timber industrialist Tyler Freres in a two part

"By: Nicholas

“4

p series of talks hosted by Knight Law School's Green Business Initiative.

s-|ngalsbees talk took place Friday November 19th, the same week that
‘dozens of community members gathered to block a logging road in the

4

Slogging. A contract that Freres holds, and plans to log in the coming

= months or weeks. f e sale is set to go up for legal review, but like so
smany controversial timber sales, is under threat of being logged before

Hit even reaches a judges desk. Ingalsbee
Be pointed out the misleading connotation of
mathe phrase ‘salvage’ logging. f e implication
s the retrieval of something in disrepair, the
“recovery of something that’s value would be
eee lost Freres’ speech had attempted

»sForests coevolved with f re. Before successful
Bforest management was
semboard feet,
recognized the value of f re. Fire clears the
geunderstory, allows light to hit theforest T oor,

©

and brings forward the next generation of

measured in
Indigenous communities long

eforest. Our exclusory forest management
Btechniques came forged from a fear of f re
and adenial of the ecosystems ability to self-
govern. It’s a pattern of en repeated: valuable
Indigenous knowledge overlooked for that
lof the colonizer, for that of prof t and control.

Salvage logging is an avenue for exploitative forestry practices
ito dodge environmental scrutiny. Burnt trees provide crucial habitat for
Wildlife as areas are reinhabited af er a burn. Snags, or standing dead
trees, provide needed shelter for the next generation of seedlings come
sspring. Leaving burnt trees stabilizes slopes, helps retain moisture, and
Sequesters valuable carbon. f e biochar lef behind by these f res holds
onto its carbon with a half life of 1000 years. f e destabilization of slopes

Saf er tree removal leads to erosion, increased risk of landslides, and soil

Breitenbush Watershed in protest of excessive post-wildf re ‘salvage’

=

Ke for the Trees

:

takes 100 years; when fallen logs and equipment are dragged over the
forest T oor, it compacts and degrades this soil in a matter of minutef
Af er logging, timber companies will replant an area. So through the
exploitation of the natural process of a wildf re, what was once a natural
forest becomes a tree farm. f ese tactics of clearing a landscape and

replanting a select species ignore the evolved consciousness of the natural
world. f ey lead to decreased biodiversity and f res that burn hotter and

spread faster. Wildf res tear through these homogenous stands of young
trees. In a typical forest f re, the young trees catch and the old growth

remains, in an area converted to a corporate
tree farm, there nothing remains.

Ingalsbee made clear: this is not a
scientifc debate, it is a disagreement
over values. Ecosystem vs. Prof t. Freres
tried to frame the logging his company is
doing as being of benef t to the ecosystem,
comparing a dif erence in ‘recovery time
between replanted forests and forests lef §
to recover naturally. Comparing the two as™
if the amount of time it takes for seedlings#
that he planted there to pop up represents
a valid metric of ecosystem health. In a
disturbed ecosystem, such a misguided
attempt to speed up the recovery process
opens opportunities for invasives and leaves
natives trying to catch up.

A common refrain is that the way welogs
is a necessary evil. Wooden houses, desks,
newspapers. But cutting down _ valuabl

ecosystems and increasingly crucial carbon stores isn’t our only option.

Isedimentation into waterways. f e formation of one inch of forest soil

ART: COSRTESY OF OTTER

T ePower of Positive T inking...
& How It’s Killing Us All

By: LGO

Weveall heard of COPs by now— no, not the
ones we are trying to get of campus, but the annual
intergovernmental meetings held to discuss what
exactly we are going to do about capitalism killing
our planet. Every year it seems like climate change is
at the top of the list for the United Nations and other
government coalitions to tackle, and yet, every year
we hear alarm bells from climate scientists warning,
that death isimminent. In fact, thisisthe 26th-fucking

year that the Conference of Parties has met! W hat are.

they doing there? Is it just an of ce‘party for: world

leaders? T is year’s conferencein Italy wasa vacation

paid for by us poor S.O.B.s considered citizens,
All 196 government leaders involved-in the Pe

increase will be about 5.4 degrees. Fahrenhe
Postal Service song was right when ne said we Wi
be able to swim any day in Novem ;
high school-environmental studies Clas

of-rich people smilifig in suits.
*.

te

“T eUN chief added that it is ‘time. to go ‘into

“goals T e conservative goals that «
“would notstop thel.5
~ clowning « on us with their political.stunts, private |

emergency modeending fossil fuel subsidies, phasing
out coal, putting a price on carbon, protecting
vulnerable communitiésand delivering the $100
billion climateeénance commitment:We did not
achieve these goals at this conference. But we have
some building blocks for progress, he ai A

What? Yot Jaccomplished exac ly zero of your
en if achieved

and es ‘go green.’ GretaT as was ri

ia ”
y : P : '

ng set
ever

g fees for most com }
uld be under thelfiewardehi pi

tdoes not belong to lumber, n
ies ertainly not for sale. |
ironmental disaster,

Indigenous
0 fossil fuel

~ it has yet rosllen the Moilitarys disgusting waste of
resources totalling 93%-of the United States’ energy _

egrees of warming? T oa

the front lines. While peo

Ingalsbee expressed that most of the logs they'll] recover won’t be good
for timber, they'll be turned into pulp and converted into paper products,
With alternatives such as hemp or bamboo, he asked if all we were doing
was, “T ushing our forests down our toilets.” |ngalsbee’s speech closed wit}
a reminder that the stakes are raised. f at as we approach tipping points
with the climate crisis, we need to hold tight to all of the carbon that we
can. f elonger the science and the, much older, Indigenous knowledgeis
ignored, the greater the consequences we will begin to see.

consumption. T eUnited States military isthe largest
consumer of fossil fuels in the world. Not only are
they murdering people here-and abroad, but they are
also forcing me to buy an air conditioner and a gas
mask.

N ow that your climate anxiety is at an all-time
high, it’s time to learn how to: protect yourself and
the world from corporate greed, neoliberalism, and
pathy. T ere is nothing standing between the forest
and the loggers, between us and climate disaster,

=

ap

except for warm bodies. T eliberal lieis that if we ask

nicely, protest nonviolently, vote regularly, the death
march of italism will stop. T eindustrial machine
is chewing up ‘and spitting out Indigenous peas on
are owe in 1s | of

tin the death ma

titand =. howl

' % ame is eo ae inues while we aa
r S or plea the prison and political systems

ork. When we accept that | no one is coming to

Build international community, disrupt business as
usual, organize, arm.
9

One St the Gr Cues colledions aS wllainous capitalist rogues iy ee

Never before has a greater collection of f nancial fat cats, union
busters, scabs, and sweatshop slavers been assembled to control a
public university. Under Senate bill SB 270 the N eo-Liberal march
towards privatization and prof teering knows no bounds.

UO BOARD O

an

2021-202

T eBoard of Trustees (BoT) governs the University of Oregon é
decisions that af ect student life, such as raising tuition and chal
takes on also impact the greater Eugene communi

T eOregon state legislature created a neo-liberal structure for t
universities in Oregon were governed by the Oregon University S
governance’ with the hope of having a better chance of attracting

more of a priv

T estate faced pushback on the legislation from the classif ed staf

a lack of representation for staf , students, and faculty. Alarmingl;

the state created a board at the University of Oregon that features
seat for the president. Of the 15 total seats, there is one set asic

President Schill takes pride in the board being made up of mos
Eugene. M any of the board members come from a background i

saw an inf ux of seven new members wi

arcia Aaron

Marcia Aaron has been on the BoT since
2018, is the founder of KIPP SoCal Public
Schools -a network of charter schools- and is
set to become a Portfolio Investment M anager

Toya Fick

Toya Fick is one of the new board
members and serves as the executive

Ross Kar!

Michael Schill

of Charter School Growth Fund (CSGF)

in January. Education advocates report that

KIPP has cultivated a practice of publicly

humiliating, shaming, and sometimes yelling

at students as a means of discipline

CSGF has many of the big name
Capitalists in the “education reform” game
funding it:T eWalton family, Gates,

Zuckerberg, and Ballmer among them. CSGF

ishelmed by Kevin Hall, who previously
worked at Goldman Sachs and M cKinsey
& Company. McKinsey made the news

during Transportation Secretary Buttigieg's

presidential run when he was questioned
about the company's involvement in bread
price f xing. McKinsey is also known for
aiding autocratic leaders, advising Purdue
Pharma to “turbocharge” opioid sales, and

recommending ICE cut back medical care and

food for detainees.

In 2010, CSGF acquired the for-
prof t online education sof ware provider
DreamBox. T is sof ware that focuses on
mathematics has come under a critical
eye locally af er Eugene 4) School District
approved anearly $200K contract for the

sof ware. Researchers say the company uses
misleading claims in advertising and doesn't

live up to its promises.
Bob Braun, who was an education
reporter for nearly 50 years wrote, “T e

Coalition of foundations, non-governmental

organizations and f nancial institutions
promoting privatization is an opaque,

multi-billion dollar, alternative governance

structure.”
10

director at Stand for Children Oregon.
Stand for Children shares many funders
with CSGF, including Ballmer and the
Walton family. In addition, Bezos has
poured money into the organization.

Across the country, Stand for
Children through its political arm
has pushed for ballot initiatives and
politicians that are pro-charter, pro-
business and anti-union. Education
historian Diane Ravitvch said, “Let’s be
clear: Stand for Children and its kind
want to put an end not only to teachers’
unions but to the teaching profession.”

Fick and Stand for Children
Oregon attacked unions earlier this year
through Oregon House Bill 2001, which
ultimately passed. T e bill lessens the
importance of seniority when it comes
to layof s, something long standing in
collective bargaining agreements for
teachers, and trades it for an undef ned
merit assessment.

Fick is also a board member of
Foundations for a Better Oregon, amajor
funder of which is Allyn Ford's very own
Ford Family Foundation. Allyn Ford
previously served on the UO BoT and is
a major f gure in the local f nancial and
timber industry.

Michael Schill, probably the most RossKariistheonly other board member
visible of the trustees, was appointed that remains from the inaugural board.
to the president position in 2015. Schill Kari has a background of working for the
comes from the University of Chicago biggest banks on Walls Street.

Law School and has a background in Kari started as a fnancial
housing. Despite this background analyst with Wells Fargo in 1983 and
Schill was unwilling to bargain over stepped down as CFO in 2001. In 2009,
housing with the GTFF when they Kari joined Freddie Mac as its CFO,
spoke about the poor stock of graduate just a year af er the Federal Housing
housing. Finance Agency placed it under public
Te UO has had a long conservatorship. Kari was among the
standing relationship with Nike handful of execs that came under fre
Under Schill, the relationship with from government watchdogs for his high
Nike founder Phil Knight has become compensation while the government-
cozier. Knight reportedly has such sponsored enterprise bled money. Just
a direct line with the UO President for signing on with Freddie, Kari received
that Schill allegedly stepped out of $2M. In 2011, Kari was paid over $3.2M
a meeting where he was discussing by Freddie M ac.
proposed cuts with UO labor heads to Kari currently serves on the
take a phone call from the university's board of one of the largest investment
largest donor. banks, Goldman Sachs. In his six years on
Schill has also shown his theboard, the company has been ordered
disdain for student activists during to pay $2.9B to the US Department of
his tenure. Students claimed the stage Justicein aforeign bribery case and f ned
where Schill was set to give his State £34.4M for misreporting transactions
of T eUnion speech in 2017 in order over a decade.
to protest tuition hikes and the unsafe
conditions for BIPOC members of
the campus, arguing their voices were
not heard in several other forums. 2
Af er this Schill went to the New York —
Times, writing a full op-ed claiming
the students actions were similar to
those of fascists.

F TRUSTe EES

2S ee

.2 EDITION

nd oversees its entire administrative hierarchy. T eboard makes ~
nges to the student conduct code. M any of the matters the board
ty, such as approval of large construction projects.

he UO BoT, when it passed SB 270 in 2013. Previously all public
ystem in Salem. Corporate interests at UO wanted to create “self-
private donors. Or as Phil Knight put it, “a step toward becoming

ate university.”

union and student activists. T ese opponents voiced concerns of
‘there would also be less oversight of tuition increases. Ultimately
14 board members appointed by the governor and one non-voting
le for a student, one faculty seat, and one non-faculty staf seat.

tly UO graduates, however most of the board does not reside in
nN banking or charter school advocacy. Earlier this year the Board

th signif cant turnover of old members.
a aq

ucK Lillis
Chuck Lillis serves as board chairman,
and has served in that position since he
was appointed to the UO’sf rst BoT. In an
interview with the Dai/y Emerald, Lillis
stated that he will be staying on until all
the new members are acquainted with
the university, but this would have him
exceeding the normal term limits for the
BoT.

Even if you are not familiar with

the BoT, Chuck Lillis name will likely sound

familiar if you have ever been on campus
in the last 18 years, with the Lillis Business
Complex sharing his last name due to his
$14M donation. Much of Lillis’ wealth was
made from raiding the assets of the old Bell
Telephone Company.

Lillis became VP of Marketing of
US West in 1985, a year af er its creation
when AT&T was forced to split into seven
companies due its anti-trust settlement with
the US Government. In 1995, Chuck Lillis
became CEO of MediaOne, a cable modem
company created by US West. M ediaOne
split of into its own public company in
1997 but just a few years later agreed to be
acquired in 2002 by AT&T in a $44 billion
dollar merger.

In the Spring of 2020 the COV ID
pandemic rolled across the country, forcing
UO to shut down its campus. At the same
time, Chairman Lillis decided to ignore
the dangers and convene an in person BoT
meeting. Student activists in hazmat suits

opposing thein person meeting were shoved
over by the heedless chairman at the Alumni

Center's entrance.

Steve H olwerd

Steve H olwerda is owner and managing
director of Ferguson Wellman Capital
Management. Such elite level capital
management companies cater to the
biggest millionaires and billionaires,
with Ferguson's website claiming to be
“mainly comprised of high-net-worth
individuals.” Indeed, the minimum
capital investment required for an
account with Ferguson Wellman is $3
million. With rankings in Barrons,
Financial Times, and the Portland
Business Journal, there is no doubt that
Holwerda has a cleanly craf ed identity in
big business circles.

Ferguson Wellman also deals
with signif cant charitable donations, so
it may just be a matter of convenience to
have someone that can make anything
into a tax write of . Of course, the
clientele of such a prestigious capital
management company is always
conf dential. However, it is doubtful that
H olwerda found his way on the BoT
without some connection to his clientele.
If any past or present members of the
BoT would liketo disclose their holdings
with Ferguson Wellman in the spirit of
transparency, we encourage them to do

Ginevra Ralph
Ginevra Ralph also served on
f rst iteration of the BoT. Previous
to serving on the BoT, Ralph was a
trustee for the UO Foundation Board
from 2006 to 2013.

Ralph is one of the co-
founders of the T eJohn G. Shedd
Institute for the Arts and currently
serves as Director of Community &
Cultural Services for the organization.
In 2018T eShedd, along with other
businesses, opposed the City of
Eugenes plans to set up a homeless
shelter downtown during the winter.
T is brought theire of advocates
for the homeless who staged several
protests in front of the performing arts
center.

Earlier in 2018, Rose City
Antifa exposed local actor Evan James
McCarty as a Neo-Nazi. Among the
places he was performing at wasT e
Shedd. When the Eugene Weekly
brought this information to James
Ralph, executive director and husband
of Ginevra Ralph, hesaid the institute
would cut ties with McCarty. Just a
little over a year later M cCarty was
performing with T e Eugene Gleeman
all-male choir at T e Shedd.

Written by: Matthew O-G & Eric Howanietz
Research by: M ary Bogen

Matthew is the writer of Solidarity News, a news site for
those building change in the Eugene/Sprinof eld area.
Read and subscribe at solidaritynews.org

stlOCRH
“OY

,. Support democratic control of universities,
athlete unionization, and free tuition for all.

Columbia Sportswear Oye Boyle
may be new to the Board of Trustees,
but is well acquainted with the board.
In 2012, Tim Boyle co-founded the
Oregonians for Higher Education
Excellence political action committee
that lobbied the state legislature to
restructure universities. Boyle put
$62.5K into the PAC, which also
received $65K a piece from Lillis and
Phil Knight.

Columbia V P Peter Bragdon
was placed on thef rst BoT, and served
on it until Boyle joined this year.

Starting in 2019 and into
the Pandemic, Boyle led an anti-
union crusade against his warehouse
workers in Portland. Workers sought
to organize as many were getting paid
unlivable wages, were forced to work
mandatory overtime, and the company
would not provide basic f rst aid
supplies. When Boyle got word that
the workers were organizing with the
Teamsters, he signed of on acontract
to pay union busting company
Crossroads Group $400/hour to
dissuade employees.

Boyle made a visit to his
warehouse in Dec 2019 to providea
brief speech against unions. He talked
about how unions have their place, but
not for Columbia warehouses.

Columbia Sportswear and its
VP of manufacturing faced 114 counts
of import smuggling and conspiracy
in 1991. A US attorney described it as
a “long-term, massive and deliberate
scheme to defraud the government.”

11

ADVOCATE EDUCATION
EDUCATION IS A MUST
PRESENT DAY THINKERS UNDERSTAND THAT
ALL WARS AREN'T PHYSICAL & WON BY THE GUN
GREETINGS LADIES AND GENTLEMAN

My name is Jamall Baker. I am a resident here at the
Special Offender's Unit. Today I will be speaking a little
about our group and presenting a small speech.

Our Diversity Committee has been facilitated to allow
residents here at the Special Offender's Unit and opportunity
to share and learn about the different aspects of one
another's culture. This is important in terms of identifying
who we are as people, but the imperative extends to a unique
situation in which we are encouraged to entertain knowledge of
self on a more personal level. Initially I met this challenge
with reservation, then I was given an opportunity
to hear a piece of our superintendent's story. His honest
narrative was instrumental in helping me revolutionize the way
I view my own historical accounts of life.

This past June I was blessed to see the ripe age of
forty-two. During the course of 42 years I have had my share
of struggles, many of which I wrestle with on a daily basis.
Mood swings, paranoia, and being surrounded by individuals who
are in complete opposition to the way I view reality are just
a few examples of my strife.

Members of this committee were challenged to define who
we are today in relation to our past. This question, as I
would become aware of later, would require an in-depth look
into my life. What I now understand is that there is a
constant need for grave introspection.

Defining who I am today will be expressed by my current
belief system.

WHAT I BELIEVE IS AS FOLLOWED:

I believe all people should be afforded equal rights.
I believe women should be afforded rights equal to that of
their male counterparts.

I believe women should not be subjected to any form of
abuse from anyone.

I believe women have a right to feel safe in their homes
and communities.

I believe our children should be loved and cared for by
both parents.

I believe children should not be subjected to any form of
abuse.

I believe children should be given an opportunity to
flourish and achieve their dreams and goals.

I believe our children should be supported academically,
emotionally, and physically so that they can compete in our
future global economy.

{I can't emphasize how imperative it is to consider the
frame of reference of our women and children. My reason for
feeling so strongly is because I witnessed men abuse my
mother. She was hurt, and when mom hurts the child hurts. This
impeded my ability to develop emotionally, intellectually, and
even in a physical sense. Men I implore you to develop and
maintain constructive relationships with your women and
children. ]

As stated above in # 1, All people should be afforded equal
rights. The phrase all people is inclusive it means -
EVERYONE!
other debilitating and degenerating disabilities are included.

Individuals whom suffer from mental disorders and

We have rights. Just as we have a right to leave our homes and
return to find things as we left them; this same fairness in
rights must be extended to the disabled whatever the
impairment might be.

I believe members of the (LBGT) community are no different
than anyone else, only in opinion that is based on ignorance.

I believe we all have a right to live within crime free
communities.

I believe we all have a duty to respect the rights of each
other.

I believe in life.

I believe we all have a right to live. Let us agree to

respect all forms of life.

iW,

Incarcerated ener utore

Conr ades

Coming to a close I would like to leave you all with

this:
growth and coming to

My participation in this program is dedicated to our
understand that the roads we travel in
this insane place we define as "WORLD" is a type of soil where
the seed which leads

development to occur.

to our growth is set in order for our
We must diligently strive to better
ourselves and look toward the positive if we are ever to be
successful. This is my definition of personal cultivation.
People let us strive together as a collective for

positive results. This is what I'm doing.

MY NAME IS JAMALL

AND

THIS IS WHO I AM
PS
Recently I was asked, " how are you doing? " My response was
I'm optimistic. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. It
might take me a little longer to get there but ultimately I'm
the only one that can arrive at my destination, so I must keep
moving forward.

WHO AM I ?

I AM COMMUNICATION

I AM DIRECTION

I AM A VEHICLE IN WHICH WE LEARN TO NAVIGATE

LIFE'S INTERSECTION'S

I AM A ROAD WHICH LEADS THE PEOPLE TO LEAD - NOT IN THE SENSE
OF LUSTING FOR POSITION BUT TAKING OUR POSITION AGAINST THE
ODDS THE OPPOSITION - WHICH IS IGNORANCE - MANS GREATEST
OPPONENT

I AM POLITICAL DEMOCRACY

I AM SOCIAL JUSTICE

I AM EQUITABLE RESOLUTIONS

I AM AN ADVOCATE OF EDUCATION, FOR EDUCATION IS A MUST

I AM A PRESENT DAY THINKER WHO UNDERSTANDS THAT ALL WARS
AREN'T PHYSICAL AND WON BY THE GUN

I AM CHANGE!

COMMUNICATION AND DIRECTION
VEHICLES IN WHICH WE LEARN TO NAVIGATE LIFE'S INTERSECTIONS
TO ROADS WHICH LEAD THE PEOPLE TO LEAD
NOT IN THE SENSE OF LUSTING FOR POSITION
BUT TAKING OUR POSITION AGAINST THE ODDS
THE OPPOSITION - IGNORANCE

MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE - MANIFEST INJUSTICE
OPPRESSION OF THE PEOPLE
YET YOU CLAIM THE PEOPLE RIGHTS ARE EQUAL
I BEG TO DIFFER. WE ARE TREATED DIFFERENT NOT JUST AN OPINION
FACT
REGARDLESS OF THE REASONS TO BE DIVIDED IS DIVISION
UNITY AS OUR STRUCTURE - PUT IN PLACE
WILL INCREASE PEACEFUL LIVING
POLITICAL DEMOCRACY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
WE WANT EQUITABLE RESOLUTION - SOLUTIONS
ON BEHALF OF CHANGE - THE REVOLUTION!
SHALL I EXPLAIN MY INTENT?
NOT TO OVERTHROW THE GOVERNMENT,
BUT TO CHANGE MINDS
THE GOVERNMENT WILL CHANGE
WITH CHANGED MINDS

Shelly's Story: Adolescence and Addiction

By: Angitia

C O nt ent Wa rnin Q . T isarticle discusses sexual assault and drug addiction. Reader discretion is advised.

T is iS a continuation of the
biography of Shelly Hart and the events
that lead. to her. incarceration in the
United States Prison system. We hope
that her story can shed somelight on the
complexities that surround incarceration,
and encourage others to consider the
ethics of the prison system and how
a person can be failed by the system at
every point of their life.

When Shelly was 13 she
developed a close relationship with the
eldest of her two step brothers, who was
18 at the time. He was the only person
in her life she felt like she could talk to
becauseheknew aboutand acknowledged
the abuse she endured. One day, not
long af er Shelly returned home from
her aunts, he asked her if she had gotten
her period this month. When Shelly
responded and told him she hadn't, he
broke down crying and became enraged;
he knew all too well what was happening,
he had to face the same reality with his
sisters and his father. Struggling through
the conf icting emotions of his father
subjecting another child to such abuse,
her step brother made a decision at that
moment... He was going to get her out of
that house.

. Shelly. next explains how.
she and her two brothers paid a coyote
(someone who collects payment —to
smuggle people across. the M exican-
American Border) to help them illegally
cross and escape the abuse they were
facing at their home. T. is was a reality
not only-for Shelly and-her brothers but
one that many still face Every year there
are millions of families that go through
this treacherous journey, with US border
control encountering more than 6,000
people daily and those numbers likely
being even higher.than documented.
T ese families abandon their homes,
lives, and friends with only theclothes on
their backs to try and makeit to acountry
that promises better yet more of en than
not delivers worse Illegal immigrants
makeup 13% of the United States prison
system, people like Shelly who come to
America in search of solace are instead
treated like criminals...

..500N af er their conversation,
Shelly’s eldest steobrother approached
her oneevening, and.told her to leave her
school supplies at home and instead f Il
her backpack with clothes. Her brothers
both met her at school the next morning
and told her they were going to, leave. At
the time Shelly didn’t think he meant to
leave M exico entirely, what she did know
is that she wanted to get out.

T e three of them drove from
Puerto Vallarta to Tijuana where her
brother knew a coyote they could pay
to get them across the border. While in
Tijuana, the coyote helped Shelly and
her brothers into a truck full of other
people. From there they madealong and
cramped drive from Tijuana all the way
to Texas, where they were now safein the
USt

...1 use the word safe here lightly.
In reality oncein the US, you now face a
new set of issues. as an illegal immigrant.
T e United States is a country that has
literally put up walls to keeo people like
Shelly out. Just this year, Kamala Harris
famously gave her “Do not come” soeech
in which she urged Guatemalan migrants
attempting to find safety in the United
States not to make the trek and in not

so many words told them they are not
welcome here Most of the people who
come to the country illegally do so to
fnd a better life for their family and to
build a foundation that they can stand on
without fear for their life or freedom...

‘Eventually in their travels
Shelly and her brothers-hitchhiked from
Texas to California and up to.M edford,
Oregon. Desperate for money, the three
of them contacted.their godfather who
owned a business there at the time. T is
business fronted as a car detailing shop
but was actually used to traf c cocaine.
T eir godfather agreed to help but told
them they had to wait till the next day
to»get the money. T ey pulled into the
decided parking lot the next morning
expecting. to meet their godfather, but
instead were met by the police T eir
godfather had told their dad where they
were,.and he in turn had told Shelly's
mother to call the police

Her two brothers were detained
and taken back to Mexico, while Shelly
was taken to a juvenile detention center
to wait for her mother. ln Oregon, the
law states that af er 6 days a minor is not
able to.be detained without-any charges
brought upon them. Shelly's mother was
too afraid to return to the United States,
so af er 6 days Shelly was released from
the detention center and put into a foster
home. T is did not last long however,
Shelly was there for less than-one night
before she took their blankets and lef .
She hitchhiked on the streets for a while
before being picked up and brought to a
Christian group home for pregnant teens.
While in the group home, Shelly started
having vivid dreams of her stepfather's
head coming out of her legs and giving
birth to his face just looking back at her,
demons f ying out of her and laughing
at her. It.was awful, so awful that she
wanted to do whatever she could to kill
the baby...

wT IS Is a reality that
unfortunately many women have faced.
It is frighteningly common that women
who become pregnant from their rapists
are shamed into having the baby or are
unable to access abortion services. When
children are sexually assaulted, it of en
happens before they are even aware of
what it means. T e trauma that comes
out of childhood sexual assault can cause
lifelong struggles and feelings of extreme
guilt regardless of fault. Shelly is just one
of many who have had to battle feelings
of guilt and shame because of traumatic
situations of child sexual assault. She
ofers her experience in hopes that
someone who reads and is currently or
has faced similar dreams, experiences,
and emotions knows they are not alone
and sheis with you....

While at the group home, Shelly
befriended two other pregnant teens
who lived there. T ethree of them would
of en get into. trouble together either
sneaking out, pretending to smoke,-or
just trying to fnd something fun to do.
One night the girls snuck out and went
roller skating. Aside from it being on the
list of things they were not allowed to do,
Shelly had never been. Af er she got her
skates on, she headed to the f oor while
holding onto.a wall for stability. With no
experience, and still very pregnant, she
slipped.and fell directly on her stomach.
Shelly was rushed to the hospital where
they were able to get in contact with her

grandparents who lived in Eugene.

..Until this point, Shelly hadnt
really conceptualized that she was going
to have this baby. ‘T e reality hit all at
once, this was something my parent did
to me that made me icky that made me
dirty and it just turned into achila’ Shelly
shared how she spent those days in the
hospital trying to feel something other
than shame T rough, Shelly's childhood,
a crucial part of the abuse she suf ered
was caused by her mother, who would
inject her with.drugs beginning in young
childhood..From what Shelly can recall
from these highs, she would ultimately
get the spins, throw up and then clean the
kitchen for hours all while-her mother
would verbally and emotionally abuse
her...

At some. point, Shelly
remembers a doctor coming into her
hospital.room:.T e doctor informed her
that the baby. was a boy, but that due to
her history with drug abuse, his-organs
were not developing correctly and he
would likely die) during “childbirth.
Because Shelly was so far along in her
pregnancy, she was unable to terminate
and forced to-carry the baby to term.

Once in Eugene, Shelly went to
numerous doctor's appointments and
check-ups. with her grandparents as
requested. T ‘rough a lot of prayers and
the support of her grandparents, she gave
birth to a beautiful and healthy baby
girl...

wAfer getting the doctors
grim diagnosis about her baby, Shelly's
grandma told her to pray.on it. Shelly
was confused at frst but then Shelly's
grandma taught her how to pray and who
to pray. Shelly feels that her baby girl was
agif from God.and gave her the purpose
to live and smile again. T is however
is not the case for every woman in this
situation. T e trauma that goes along
with having your abuser’s baby is not one
that many can talk or even begin to think
about...

While living in. Eugene with
her grandparents, Shellys grandmother
introduced her to the future father of her
two other children. T e young couple fell
for each other fast and moved in together
at the age of 17. Shelly was now a married
teen mother with 2 baby girls and began
taking night classes to help her husband
manage an apartment~complex. T e
work was long and tiring and.to Shelly's
surprise, she discovered she was pregnant
again. During this pregnancy Shelly and
her husband endured large amounts of
f nancial strain, which led her husband
to make the dif cult decision to quit his
job and.join the military. While he was
away at boot camp he had no access to
phones, and it was during this time that
Shelly gave birth to their son. Postpartum
hit Shelly like a truck, and without her
husband there to help her raise their
three children sheturned to a darker way
of coping.

It was around this time that
Shelly began to recreationally use drugs
outside the context. of her previous
abuse as a child. While it began with just
mushrooms and casual weed smoking,
she eventually began using meth. While
that may seem like a drastic jump to
many, Shelly wants to note that the use of
methamphetamine is far more common
than people may think and you never
know until you're faced with the decision

yourself. Af er a while of suf ering in
silence, Shelly had enough and called her
husband. She gave him an ultimatum: “
| need you, we need you. | want you to
come home now or | want a divorce”
T at was all it took. Her husband, afraid
his wife was gonna leave him and take
the children, lawyered up and started
fghting for full custody. Shelly was
working at the time and made good
money while simultaneously battling her
addiction, she Knew. she didn’t stand a
chanceagainst the military in court...

.. Shelly had.found herself in
an impossible yet incredibly common
situation. Millions of people are battling
addiction. every day, and some are never
able to break the cycle Addiction is
hard to talk about because within our
society addiction is still extremely taboo
and looked down upon, which makes it
much harder for people to ask for help.
Addiction isa disease yet we treat it like
a choice. Shelly wasa young mother lef
alone to raise her children while her
husband was thousands of miles away.
Instead of demonizing her for her drug
use sheneeded help, she needed support,
but the unsympathetic systems at place
in the US once again lefher-to fend for
herself...

A few years later when Shelly
was 20 years old, amidst f ghting for her
children and looking for steady work,
Shelly.needed a break. So one night
Shelly decided-to get high on opioids at
a Motel 6 with:someof her friends. Af er
a while-one of her friends decided they
needed some.fresh air. T e2 of them
lef the motel room.and walked around
the parking lot before stumbling across
a U-Haul van. Shelly andthe friend
jokingly debated about robbing the U
Haul and decided to let fate make their
decision by f ipping a coin. Heads they
would rob the van, tails they would go
back to the mote! room. Despite the coin
fip, Shelly knew this could only go one
way. T eman that she was with handed
her agun and told her to go up and open
the truck. When. Shelly. pulled open the
front door of the van, a man sleeping in
the front seat sat up, scaring Shelly half to
death. In a moment of panic, she pulled
out the gun and instructed him to get out
of the van. Once the man was sitting on
the curb, Shelly and her friends piled into
the U-Haul and took of into the night.

Shelly and her friends were able
to avoid the cops by listening to police
scanners. Before taking everything
from inside the van, one of them heard
on the police scanner that there was an
undisclosed amount.of money hidden
inside the van. Shelly and. her friends
hadnt found any money at that point
so it felt like a moment of pure luck.
T ey looked around the U- Haull one
last time and found 10k hidden under
a panel. Without knowing it Shelly had
just taken the life savings of a family that
was moving their small business to anew
town. Af er taking the 10k from the van,
they ditched the U-Haul on an empty
street. Within 24 hours, law enforcement
tracked. down the truck, and arrested the
group... without the money. T is began
Shelly’s entrance into the United States
prison system.

BaGKGROUAD Bi: RB. BLISS
13

Unhoused man dies of exposure a
cidtering ak busdoo Vigil Commemorates Trans &

py ie Howane —_ 3 Genderqueer Lives Lost in 2021

For three days an elderly man By: Silas Radev

sheltered at the intersection of
Hwy 99 and Royal Ave With
the f rst bitter cold snap of the
year on Nov 17th, he passed
away. T ebus stops there four
times a day, yet none called for
help or rendered aid.

In response, on Friday
Nov 19th, Black T istle Street
Aid assembled a vigil for the
elderly man whose identity
at the time of this printing is
unknown. About 25 people
attended the somber event
and shared their growing frustration with Eugenes policies
and actions towards the houseless community. “T is followsa
pattern we have seen with escalated sweeps,” said one street aid
volunteer. Another commented on how easy it was for people
to fall through the cracks when they are dispersed by ongoing : sat nere oF
sweeps by the police. Unfortunately, the city’s plan to mass 80 : ae ne Re Gate Sa,
tents in the unheated Tyree Oil warehouse on Garf eld Streethas : © prPusaines a nage included 2
stoked paranoia about concentration camp likeconditionsinthe : | oan bfames ritua Peay eat
unhoused community. T eill thought schemeis little morethan : from the Mayor Lucy Vinis, and a
arubber stamp to move forward with large scale sweeps which _keynote address from Transponder ‘( pacerulh.
will only move unhoused folks further from essential services and : _ Executive Director Kyle Rodriguez- “of cor imunity grief, vulnerabi LY.
community support. : Hudson. | storytelling, and resilience. In

Black T istle Street Aid (BTSA) runs pop up clinics and j In the entrance of the j 2021, over 360 trans and gender
does outreach for the unhoused. BT SA says they havelost seven : | church, there were two tables full
of their patients this year. T e unhoused man most likely died : lof colorful, unlit candles. Above
of exposure and the vigil hoped to remind the community of : t he stage, pictures were posted
the increasingly harsh conditions unhoused folks will be facing on amemorial wall, showing 61
this winter. Please take notice and have the courage to help those toe
: — me aphs of exuberant, beautif
in need. Housing is a deadly issue in our community and must
be addressed as both an immediate emergency and a long-term
crisis.

|naccessible A ccessi bi lity

By: Aisling ART Bi: ROSIE

You know what? College is hard— shocking, | know. Everyone has making it from point A to point B, campus sidewalks are uneven and falling
something that adds to the burden of learning what we need to know for our apart. You would think a college as rich, successful, and proud of its diversity
future, be it work, family emergencies, or visa troubles, everyones burden is as this one would make sure that you could walk without tripping, let alone roll
heavy and should be treated as such. Nobody deserves to struggle on the way a wheelchair around. Another part of getting from point A to point B comes in
from point A to point B. So why is my college pulling me back by the ankle the form of wheelchair ramps: you would think that this would be a no-
even though it asks meif | need ahand? brainer, an easy way to keep the stairs college architects love so much.

Everyone has a right to an education. At least that’s how it But | continuously f nd them located out of the way, with sharp turns
should be; how this country likes to talk about it. T e University of that are hard on wheelchair users, or used as a parking spot for those

International Tra soenaer ay 1Ue tO t(ranspnopic and na fe-related c
of Remembranceis commemorated ~ / violence. :
annually on November 20th. The Participants of the ceremony |
day was founded to draw attenti: on -__Were invited to light a candle, write
‘to the ceaseless violence endured by down athought or prayer, and set _
trans and genderqueer comr i] ~ them on thealtar. The vigil was
; On Saturday, Wovey) a welcoming and somber settin, i
- memorial vigil was held a that gave everyone space to be
a emotionally vulnerable. A
A hai Ku 5
shared fo

Oregon, and honestly our society as a whole, spins diversity as a boon tiny campus staf carts.

and does the least they could possibly do to uphold their self praise. T eramp for Lawrence Hall closest to the bus stops is used by
And | do mean the very least they could do, disabled people are so many of campus students to get to class; it is not only led up to by a
used to being overlooked and forgotten that you would think that this steep, broken sidewalk but is steep itself and made out of gravel—
wouldn't be anything new but somehow the University of Oregon a slipping hazard for abled students and a complete blockage for
campus has found ways to shock me everyday. disabled ones.

T e front doors of many buildings that are seemingly Once you are in the buildings, you are no better of . Elevators
accessible by wheelchair do not have buttons to open them. T is constantly break, are out of the way or hidden, require attendants
forces people to wonder which side of the building they should try to operate, make worrying sounds, or just plain don’t exist. Entire
f rst to just get into the building before having to f gure out how to buildings are inaccessible. Buildings that hold classes, dorms, and
then get to their classroom. For me this means the choice of hurting student support structures are completely blocked of from those of
myself opening the door by hand or hurting myself walking around us who can't make our way up stairs. If a disabled student can’t make
the building. Why must those of us who already have trouble with it to their class, itis up to TH EM to 1) schedulean appointment with
mobility continuously be asked to, quite literally, go the extra mile? AEC (the Accessible Education Center) to set up aclassroom switch,

Buttons to open doors are of en blocked by architecture, achallengebecause it can take weeksto get an appointment, 2) shuf e
both permanent and temporary, and are inaccessible to wheelchair paperwork between AEC and their doctor to make sure they have
users and everybody else who might use them. T e example that the specif c wording that is needed for their accommodations,
irks me the most is when a trash can is placed in front of one; and 3) find a new classroom for the class. T ey must do this
| must either stop using my cane to free up my hand or put my all while trying not to fall behind in the class they can’t even
cane in thetrash to open a fucking door. Between this and the reach, taking their other classes, and handling all their other
fact that many accessibility ramps are at the back of buildings responsibilities and dif culties.
with the dumpsters sends a clear message. | know many All this comes together to create a picture of a campus
people see disabled people as disposable but I’ve never that is not only inaccessible but insultingly so. T eADA
experienced it quite so literally before. (Americans with Disabilities Act) has been around since

On top of buttons being blocked, the 1990. T at's 31 years since people decided that maybe
University of Oregon has changed them from the companies and campuses couldn't be trusted to do the
Classic and very visible bright blue to a stainless bare minimum and needed regulation to push them
steel and many of them have been made smaller to be inclusive in more than just words. And yet
to camouf age them against the decor. | guess the University of Oregon has somehow just...
visible disability accessibility ruins the aesthetic not done that. And that’s not even taking into
that the college is going for in its new buildings. account that the ADA isn’t enough— it should

And if we want to talk about literally be a foundation to build of of, a starting
Continued pg. 16

14

Fuck Your Land AcKnowl edgement s!
A Guideto Avoiding Performative Passivism

By: hazel alexis, choctaw nation citizen

Hey, you! You realize you're on stolen land,
right? Who am | kidding, of course you do. But,
how do you feel about that? Seriously! How does it
feel to live on stolen land? Are you uncomfortable?
| encourage you to think about these questions and
keep thinking about them until you die.

If you've spent much time around the
University of Oregon, you've certainly heard that
its “located on Kalapuya Ilihi, the traditional
indigenous homeland of the Kalapuya people” who
were dispossessed of this land in the 1850s, forcibly
removed to the coast, and whose descendants
“continue to make important contributions in their
communities, at UO, across the land we now refer to
as Oregon, and around the world.”

T is is the gist of the of cial land
acknowledgement provided by the university,
a paragraph of performative platitudes that’s
proliferated through the institution like a plague
and can now be found on plaques, in conference
powerpoints, at administrative meetings, in class
slides and even, unfortunately, on materials produced
by so called lef ists who really ought to know better.

“Hold on a second!” you may be thinking,
“Isn't it a good thing to acknowledge that were on
native land?” | wouldn't blame you if you thought
this, because youd be right... sort of. It is good for
people to know they're on native land, and to know
the local history. But knowledge is just the f rst step--
-no, not even that, it’s thezeroeth step; in thef ght for
decolonization, land back and sovereignty, colonizers
knowing that they are colonizers accomplishes next
to nothing. Words are not land, | cannot build ahome
on aplaque, nor can! grow cropsin your open mind.

But let's give these white people the benef t
of the doubt, and assume the intention is to educate
people about historical injustices so they'll decide
on their own to become active allies to indigenous
people---all the land acknowledgement is doing is
giving them a little push! Unfortunately, this doesn’t
check out. When was the last time you learned
something from aland acknowledgement? W hat was
it? What have you done dif erently in your life since
then? If you had tangible answers to all three of those
questions, I’m impressed. You're a good liar.

Te thing is, nearly every land
acknowledgement plays it safe. T ey use weak,
distancing language like “ancestral homelands”,

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“unceded territory”, “traditional caretakers”, “forcibly
relocated”. T ey never go into much detail, rarely
stretching more than a paragraph and almost never
topping three (the few | found in my research
that were longer were exclusively on the websites
of native tribes). T ey shy away from words like
“stolen”, “genocide’, “illegal occupation”. And they,
across the board, fail to suggest that anything ought
to be done about the situation. T e boldest of land
acknowledgements amount to “we really shouldn't be
here, but oh well.”

To learn something worth knowing from
a land acknowledgement, you would have to know
essentially nothing about indigenous history. T is is
actually a possible achievement, given how poorly
our education system treats these issues, but even
from a blank slate you won't learn much. And once
you've seen or heard the land acknowledgment once,
you won't learn anything from seeing the same exact
words again.

So why are these form-letter land
acknowledgements so ubiquitous? TO understand
this we must accept that their main purpose isn’t to
educate---if it were they would be more detailed,
more varied, give new information each time. Hell,
nowhere on the UO website is there even a link to
more information about the Kalapuya people, the
forced relocation, the formation of the tribes of
Grand Rondeand Siletz, or the current contributions
of these people. T eres not even any sources cited
in the land acknowledgement!! Were supposed to
take them at face value, and were not supposed (nor
expected) to be curious.

Land acknowledgements are as popular as
they are for one reason: virtue signalling. T ey’re an
easy way to look woke and perform allyship without
taking any risks or doing any labor. Hell, you don't
even need to write it yourself; theres countless
websites that will suggest a general formula for you to
plug in whatever names you get from native-land.ca,
or you could just usethe UO land acknowledgement-
--everyone else does, af er all.

Every time! hear a land acknowledgement,
| think, “so what?” Okay, you've acknowledged that
you're on stolen land, that bad things happened;
what are you going to do about it? Most of the
time, the answer is fuck all. T e CBC Baroness von
Sketch Show has an excellent land acknowledgement

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comedy sketch which can be found on Yyoutube
and resonates for many indigenous people: af er a
land acknowledgement in a theatre, an audience
member asks “should we leave, then?” T e comedy
comes from the universally recognized fact that land
acknowledgments are not to be engaged with, nor to
be taken seriously. T ey’re to be hurried through so
we can get on with whatever were really here for.

And this too of en is how the people or
institutions upholding the practice view it. T ey do
land acknowledgements because it’s the done thing
(and gosh, what if people noticed we weren't doing
them? they might think were racist!), and they don't
do anything more, partly because they see the land
acknowledgement itself as suf cient, and partly
because they wouldn't even know where to begin
(it's a generally accepted truth in the f ed of Being
A Minority that performative “allies” don’t quite
understand google).

So where does this leave us? T e status
quo is tame, formulaic, largely meaningless “land
acknowledgements’, delivered hurriedly and
awkwardly, mispronunciations mumbled through, to
an eyes-glazed-over, impatient, distracted audience.
T ereisno call to action, there is no accountability,
there is no room for discussion or further learning.
Normalizing this is actively harmful; it gets in the
way of real activism, but the practice of uneducated
white people teaching other uneducated white people
these simplif ed histories can also perpetuate harmful
ideas about indigenous people. In recognition
of this danger, the Association of Indigenous
Anthropologists has actually recommended a hiatus
on land acknowledgements until more research on
their ef cacy can be conducted.

M y biggest issuewith land acknowledgements
is that the very practice of doing them seems to imply
they accomplish something, but they really do not.
T eidea that they accomplish something is tied up
in what Yellowknives Dene First Nation scholar Glen
Coulthard names the “politics of recognition’---a
colonially imposed framework in which indigenous
people benef t from recognition by the settler state
and its agents. T is framework must be rejected
wholesale. So called allies do us no favors by
recognizing, ratifying or legitimizing our existence,
struggles or accomplishments. Doing so is rather the
bare minimum of rejecting indigenous erasure.

“T at’sall well and good”, you may bethinking,
“but surely a land acknowledgement is better than
nothing?” To which | respond, WHY THE FUCK
IS THE ALTERNATIVE NOTHING??? Why is the
choice between ignoring indigenous peoplealtogether
and tokenizing our histories for brownie points?
Why do | even need to see “on stolen kalapuya land”
in email signatures and twitter bios and instagram
captions and zines? It's downright of ensive; do better!

| want to end his article here, but | am
worried that if | don’t explicate how to do better,
that will become an excuse for not changing. T eres
countless perspectives and words of wisdom available
at the other side of a google search, but! did promisea
guide, so heres f ve things you can do instead of aland
acknowledgement, to actually support indigenous
people and decolonization:

1.Educate yourself about thecolonial history
and present conditions of the indigenous
inhabitants of your area, and talk to people about
what you f nd out. How many times have you heard or
said the word “kalapuya” without knowing any details
about who that word refers to? Do you even know
where Siletz and Grand Ronde are? Do you know
about issues currently facing Oregon's tribes? If you
answered no to any of these questions, these are some
good jumping of points for your research.

Continued pg. 17

15

Scratching the Surface of M edical M isogyny

By: Rosie

T eUSA... Supposedly the greatest
country in the world, has a never
ending breadth of crises occurring,
many of which are unknown to those
who have had the privilege not to
have experienced them f rst hand.

M edical M isogyny is a systemic issue
that has been rampant in the United
States since the dawn of medicine, and
continues to af ect women (especially
women of color) in many dif erent
contexts.

One way we see this misogyny
commonly manifest is through the
menialization of women's issues in a
number of dif erent medical settings,
which is incredibly dangerous for
women's health. Women are less likely
to be prioritized in an emergency
situation and are also less likely to be
prescribed pain medication despite
conveying the same pain levels as their
male counterparts. Not only is this
dangerous because it means women
are deprioritized in a health crisis,
but it also reinforces already negative
correlations women and POC may
have with medical care and a hospital
setting.

T eUSA isstill the only
industrialized country in the world
with a maternal mortality rate that
has continued to rise, and we have
an infant mortality rate 71% higher
than other economically comparable
countries. T ese rates are also
more than double for black women
compared to their white counterparts.
For those with the ability to give birth,
we of en consider a hospital setting
to be the safest place to do so because
the media we consume reaf rms
paternalistic rhetoric in both the
profession and culture at large. Last
spring, | read an illuminating article
by Robbie E Davis Floyd (an American
anthropologist known for her
research in obstetrics and childbirth)
that reframed the idea of American

hospital

birth and attempted to
answer the question
of why our mothers
are dying at such high
ratesin the USA.T e
answer? Capitalism, of
course.

T eissue
of medical misogyny
is one that is deeply
rooted in technocratic
medicine, capitalism, and
let's not forget the patriarchy.
Industrialized medicine is
reliant on the technocratic
model, for it restricts who is able
to practice medical care. Only
those with high levels of education
and status/privilege are able to join
the medical f eld, and during the
rise of industrialized medicine the
overwhelming majority of medical
practitioners with that level of
education and status were heterosexual
white men. T is meant that the white
male perspective became not only the
dominating force in medical practice
but also the model for medical
research. T ismodel has historically
used the white heterosexual male as
the basis for all scientif c research
and advancement, resulting in severe
underrepresentation of women and
communities of color. Even now in
2021, in order to get into medical
school, one must have the f nancial
means as well as the ability to
maintain high GPA levels. Access to
higher education is elitist in that it is
restricted to those who have access
to acertain level of privilege thus
preventing true diverse representation
in the medical f eld which only further
contributes to the misogyny already
embedded into the industry.

T etechnocratic model of

/naccessible A ccessibility continued from pg. 14

point, yet the University of Oregon seems to think it’s :
the whole building. When | see their subpar ef orts to :
placate the law, all | seeis an awareness of their dutiesto :
their students and their lack of desire to fulf Il them. :

T e very college | attend should not be yet :
another roadblock | must contend with to get my :
education. | have more than enough of those already. :
If they don’t want me here, | wish they at least had the :
courage to tell me to my face, because these tripping :
hazards-both literal and metaphorical-are growing :
tedious. It’s way past time we tear them down and build :
up a system that actually meets our needs and doesn't :
just put up a facade of inclusivity. :

We need a largescale overhaul of public ;
Campus spaces to increase access around and within ;
buildings quickly, easily, and practically. Weneed more :
trained professionals in AEC and other departments :
who know theschool system they work within to ensure °
everyone gets the help they need when they need it. -
Students need to be made aware of theservicesthat :
are available to them. T e University must start -
going beyond the requirements of the law to meet :
the needs of their students.

Everyone has a right to an education. It’s 2021, it’s
time to make that true in practice, not just theory.

16

medicine, like many
other systems of power
in the US, is a byproduct
of capitalism and the
alienation it produces.
T emodel (originally
def ned by Robbie E.
Davis Floyd) hinges on
mind-body separation
and the idea that the
universe is mechanistic,
our bodies function as
machines and women's
bodies in particular function
as defective machines made
to bef xed with medical
technology. T emind-
body separation allows
for us to subconsciously
develop the idea that our
bodies are property of an
institution, and are reliant on
medical intervention for survival. T is
mind-body separation is the antithesis
of the humanistic model typically
employed by eastern medicine,
wherein the mind and body are
considered a holistic organism- treated
as asingular entity, especially as it
pertains to health and medicine. T e
mind-body separation and the belief
that women's bodies are inherently
defective is the foundation of modern
obstetrics and is culpable for the
drastically high maternal mortality
rates in the United States.

Medical misogyny and the
technocratic model are ideas that make
perfect sense to women and POC who
have experienced the symptoms of
the phenomena f rsthand, however
many people! have spoken to on the
subject who do not fall into those
categories are completely oblivious
to the blatant horrors that occur
within medical facilities, and this is
not surprising considering very few
doctors face repercussions for their

@ ART BY: ROSIE
unethical behavior (including

sexual assault) and the patients who
suf er at their hands are dismissed in
lieu of the “authority” f gure (AKA
the medical professional). One highly
publicized example of this was by
osteopathic physician Larry Nassar
who sexually assaulted more than 265
young girls during his time as a doctor
at USA gymnastics. Nassar went 18
years before f nally being caught,
which has always especially disturbed
me considering we do not know how
many other medical professionals
there are out there engaging in similar
behaviors who will never get caught.
T eunethical and nightmare inducing
practices that have occurred within
the medical industry will continue
to occur indef nitely as long as the
deep patriarchal roots embedded in
technocratic medicine are dismantled
and reformed.

T issimply scratches the
surface of the medical inequalities that
occur within the US, the atrocities
that occur behind the doors of
medical facilities are more vast than
one could possibly f t into an article.
While we strive to make progress
at a systemic level, | also personally
encourage anyone who has well placed
mistrust in the modern American
medical system to seek out a holistic
approach to their healthcare that
incorporates both preventative care
and elements of modern medicine. We
are indoctrinated by capitalism into
thinking that the technocratic form
of medicine is the only valid form,
that we are dependent on technocratic
institutions for survival, when in
reality there are plenty of non-western
forms of medicine that are equally
valid and safer options in many cases.
Modern medicine has provided us
with many invaluable inventions
and discoveries, but access to these
discoveries must be universal, not
restrictive.

TERFs on Lesbian

By: Dorian Blue

M ost lesbians are involved with the feminist cause, or at least care about
its impacts. Obviously, being a woman and loving other women makes us care
about women's rights. Over time though, | have discovered an unfortunate truth.
Some lesbians who on the surface are normal feminists display bitter and violent
attacks against trans women, labeling them as men who have “invaded” women’s
spaces.

One post | saw on Instagram posed the question: “How do you def ne
women only spaces? Do you think they should exist?” M any of the early comments
were benign, talking about how lesbian
spaces were important. T e ugliness
f Itered in eventually. | couldn't stop myself
from reading comments bad-mouthing
trans women, calling them predators, and
going a step further to belittle and attack
non-binary people and trans men. | took
alook at the prof les that these comments
were coming from and never saw a face
that looked younger than 30. In their
bios, they espoused deep pride in being
lesbian, and their prof le pictures were
endearing to me: grinning grey-haired
lesbians wearing plaid. It lef me feeling
lost. I'd had so many good interactions
with thesewomen and their networks. My
trans peers wouldn't have gotten the same
positive treatment, and because of this, |
felt disturbed. My cisgender privilege was
sheltering me from the ugly side of these
veteran women's liberationists.

While the presence of Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists (TERFs)
seemed jarring at frst, their history is long and storied, especially in queer
women’s circles. T e frst time | heard that term, | hadn’t encountered them
before, but it gave me a warning of what was to come. Seeing their rhetoric out
in the open is infuriating. T e modern rise of TERFdom has been predated by
the philosophies of gender essentialism and social constructionism. T ese terms
hold the ideas that people of dif erent sexes have unique characteristics shared
across the entire group. A simple summary is a quote such as: “Men are from
Mars and women are from Venus.” It proposes that the traits of men and women
are inherently dif erent and opposite to each other and it can’t be changed. T is
thinking was easily translated into the early debates about the validity of trans
women, especially in women's spaces. Because of their perceived connection to
masculinity, they were seen as the ultimate threat to feminine power and their

SPUNY trae

(2 SETS) “NEW YEAR'S EVE GET DOWN”

Turt

place among fellow women was questioned relentlessly. In the queer movements
of the later half of the 20th century, they were of en treated as tokens, despite all
of their work for the community. To this day, they are still relentlessly othered,
intentionally or unintentionally.

A high-prof le example of trans women being intentionally excluded from
a women's space was at the Michigan Womyn's M usic Festival. Established in 1976
to be an open and safe space for queer women to come together, it thrived for
decades and was seen asa cultural f xture. However, in thesummer of 1991, atrans
woman named Nancy Burkholder was asked
to leave. T e founder of Michfest, Lisa Vogel,
wouldn't budge, insisting that their policy on
transness was “Don't ask, don’t tell,” and that
they would operate under the assumption
that everyone was a “womyn born womyn.”
In ef ect, they were creating another gender
and class hierarchy. It says a lot that policies
in a feminist lesbian space resembled that of
the very systems they swore to f ght against.
“When lesbian feminism starts constraining
women instead of liberating them, we have
lost our way. T is is what the success of years
of lesbian visibility activism looks like: new
kinds of dykes we haven't seen before and can’t
name yet.” said Riki Wilchins, a trans woman
who was also ejected from the festival af er
her participation in Camp Trans, a protest
held across the street from Michfest af er the
ejection of Burkholder. For years, festival goers
and the wider community pleaded with the
organizers to change their ways, all to no avail. Despite what Vogel and her allies
said, a majority of attendees were always in support of trans people. Following the
continued controversy, organizations and musicians dropped their support, such
as the Human Rights Campaign and the Indigo Girls.

For decades, a vocal minority of lesbians have caused immeasurable
harm to the trans community. In their own twisted pursuit of radical “feminism,”
they persecute the people most in danger in today’s society. Since they see trans
women as men, they project the trauma they have faced from men onto them,
completely ignoring the amount of trans women who are victims themselves. Cis
lesbians need to acknowledge what is happening in their spaces and use their
privilege to call it out, because transphobia on any level is unacceptable. TERF
rhetoric tears apart queer women's spaces. If we want to expand spaces for queer

: 3. Donate to

women, we haveto become radically inclusive now.

- 2. Talk to indigenous people in
: your community and make space
: for native voices and perspectives
>in your organizing. If theres no
: native folks in the room, ask yourself
- why. It's not because we don't exist, but
: it might be because your organization's
: rhetoric is
: ideology---l’m looking at you, class
: reductionists who minimize racial and
- national divisions and “public land”
: loving environmentalists.

reinforcing _ colonial

: indigenous people on the front lines
: of the battle against capitalism and
- colonialism, defending land, protecting
- water, seeking justice for missing and
: murdered indigenous women, and
> serving their communities. T ese all
> cost money, and oneof themost obvious
- things that you, as a person who has
: materially benef ted from colonization,
: can do to makeamends with the people
: who have materially suf ered is GIVE
1; US YOUR MONEY. T is can be a
Z ; great option for an organization that

MUSIC AT 8PM - ALL AGES
S A & > acknowledgement---start by sharing a
> venmo for a bail fund or an advocacy

WOW HALL - EUGENE, OR\|

typically opens meetings with a land

group instead, and talking about the

: issue, Just make sure that the money is
: actually going to indigenous people.

: Performative Passivism continued from pg. 15

4, Use your privilege by putting
your whitebody onthelinewhere
it matters. As my friend Leon writes
elsewhere in this issue, the only way
to slow global warming is to actively
intervene, and native folks have been
doing this, while simultaneously
protecting our homelands from
colonization, for decades. It’s dangerous
though, and many have died on the
front lines of this struggle T eres
never zero risk, but white folks can
weaponize their privilege for the cause

indigenous _ by actively participating in clashes with
> communities and support police. White people are less likely to
: decolonial activism At = any be killed, more likely to be released
: moment, there are countless if arrested and generally will receive

lighter sentences if they are convicted
of a crime T us, they make great
allies when they show up and listen to
indigenous leadership.

5.Givel andback.T isisn’tsomething
everyone can do; not everyone has
land. But if you do, or you work with
an organization or agency that deals
with “public” lands, or has land in
trust, you can and should advocate for
that land to be returned to indigenous
folks. If “land back” is a scary concept
for you, or you don't quite understand
it, | encourage you to do your research.
T ere can be no reconciliation when
native people are still dispossessed of
our land.

17

Arts&Entertainment
T eFrench Disoatch: Review

By: David Patrick Schrank Jr.

Wes Anderson debuted
his tenth feature-length flm, 7 e
French Dispatch, at the Cannes
Film Festival in July before it was
released theatrically on Oct. 22nd.
T e COVID-19 pandemic forced
the pictures release to be pushed
back by a year, and it was certainly
worth the wait. T e f lm, written
and directed by Anderson, is an
anthology of short vignettes, each
of which focuses on a dif erent
reporter's story for the eponymous French foreign bureau of thef ctitious Liberty,
Kansas Evening Sun newspaper as the last issue is prepared. T is motion picture
has an all-star ensemble cast including Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Frances
McDormand, Timothée Chalamet, Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, Benicio del
Toro, Willem Dafoe, Jef rey Wright, and Edward Norton among others.

T eFrench Dispatch is the culmination of the best aspects of Anderson's
works distilled into a unique and satisfying format. T eacting, direction, writing,
production design, and cinematography are all excellent and each is distinctively
Andersonian. T e performances of the ensemble combined with Anderson's
screenplay are quirky, dryly comedic, and witty. T eproduction design throughout
is exquisite and charming, ref ecting the attention to detail that def nes the
director's works. T ef lm is able to seamlessly switch from color to black and
white photography throughout and integrate both 2D animation and stop-motion
animation. T e shot composition and character blocking are carefully planned,
making for many shots throughout with some absolutely gorgeous mise-en-
scene. Each of the segments is engaging and they provide an interesting variety
that still feels cohesive. Suf ceto say, Anderson
def nitely hits all of his marks with this picture.

Also worth mentioning is that |
noticed some intriguing parallels between the
flm and the “behind the scenes” work of our
very own /nsurgentnewspaper.T epublication
in the picture is not unabashedly radical
like we are. However, the writers and editor
portrayed in 7 e French Dispatch felt very
familiar to me. One story in the f lm features
Tilda Swinton portraying an art critic named
J.K.L. Berensen who gives a lecture about an
incarcerated artist named Moses Rosenthaler,
played by Benicio del Toro, reminding me of
our prisoner contributions. Another focuses
on a writer named Lucinda Krementz, played
by Frances McDormand, who reports on a
student protest movement, led by Timothée

r. Chalamets character Zef erelli,
that was inspired by the 1968
student protests in France T is
of course called to mind our
consistent coverage of student
activism. Bill Murray’s character,
Arthur Howitzer Jr, who is
the editor of the publication,
is particularly reminiscent of
our former editor and current
manager, Eric Howanietz, in the
character’s general demeanor, his
dedication to his publication, and his great care and advocacy for his writers. In
actuality, Anderson took a lot of inspiration for his motion picture, that serves as
a tribute to journalism, from 7 eNew Yorker. Overall, the manner in which the
f Im showed how a publication comes together every issue rang true to me, which
added a deeper layer of appreciation and sentimentality.

Some last points! wanted to focus on: Jef rey Wright's segment, wherehe
plays a food writer loosely based on James Baldwin and journalist A.J. Liebling,
includes an extended animated sequence that is so great and really enhanced
the story. Additionally, the brief section at the beginning with Owen Wilson as
a bicycle-riding travel writer named H erbsaint Sazearac was one of the funniest
parts of the f lm. | wish this segment had been longer because | would've loved
to have seen more from this character. But, the length did feel f tting within the
larger context of the feature.

With 7 eFrench Dispatch, Wes Anderson has madewhat | seeas his most
markedly Wes Anderson picture yet. It seems as if he has been able to carefully
honehis skills over the decades in order to get to this point where he has mastered
the best and most unique qualities of his work.
T ose who are already fans of Anderson will
likely have the most appreciation for his latest
project. But, | think many who are unfamiliar
with his f Imography will still f nd this f lm to
be quite enjoyable. | might even go as far as to
say that 7 e French Dispatch may very well
be my favorite picture from Wes Anderson
that I’ve seen. It’s certainly one of my favorite
f Ims of 2021 so far. | hope that the early Oscar
buzz that it has received will translate into
some well-deserved nominations. With that, |
give the f lm a rating of f ve stars out of f ve.
You can see it now playing at the Broadway
Metro theater in Downtown Eugene and the
Cinemark theater in Springf eld. Catch it while
you still can, because it won't bein theaters for
much longer!

Dune Versus Dune: Into the Duniverse

By: Barbara Berkeley

“Dune (2021) is a good movie’ is not a controversial idea,
and for good reason. It’s a well-made movie, and an excellent adaptation of a
seemingly unadaptable book. I’m a woman of simple taste; if a movie has cool
visuals and a good score, I'll enjoy every second of it,
and Dune (2021) delivered. Every shot was gorgeous,
and the music added an incrediblesense of atmosphere.
Beyond that, Dune (2021) told a well-paced and
interesting story. | went in having read part of the f rst
book, which def nitely helped me understand what
was going on, but I think | would've enjoyed the movie
regardless of whether | '‘d consumed the source material.

Dune (1984) is one of the worst movies I’ve
ever seen. If | had a dollar for every time | thought
“W hat the hell is going on?” while watching the movie,
I'd be rich beyond my wildest dreams. Every aspect
of Dune (1984) is fundamentally broken; from the
stilted, unnatural dialogue supplemented by even more
stilted, unnatural voiceovers; to the confused aesthetic;
to the campy, aggressively 80's score. Sting was cast
as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, a crime! cannot forgive.
U Itimately, the movie was so weird and unlike anything
I've ever seen before that | can’t bring myself to hate it.
| will not, however, be watching it again, at least not
while sober.

If amovie adaptation of Dune doesn't properly
convey the message of the original text, it isn’t a good
piece of art. Frank Herbert's Dune is fundamentally a
18

message against colonialism and imperialism. Paul is presented as the hero, but
when he becomes the Emperor of the known universe, he rules as a tyrant and
causes the death of billions. Paul’s legacy is death and suf ering and despair.
T eHarkonnens are presented as evil and grotesque,
while the Atreides are dutiful and heroic, but in the
end, both are colonizers. Both are imperialists. Both
are evil.

Dune (1984) shows Paul's rise to power, but
not his fall from grace. Both parts of the story are
necessary for a complete understanding of Frank
Herbert's message, and by presenting Paul as a purely
heroic character, Dune (1984) tells a standard white
savior narrative. Dune (2021) also tells an incomplete
story, but the promise of a sequel makes me more
lenient in my judgement. T ere are hints throughout
the flm of the direction the narrative is heading.
We see this in the fascist imagery of H ouse Atreides,
the clear class disparity between Atreides and their
Fremen subjects, and Chani’s condemnation of the
exploitation of her planet. Dune(2021) is by no means
a perfect critique of colonialism, but it seems like a
good start.

If you haven't seen Dune (2021), go watch it. If you
haven't seen Dune (1984), you're probably doing
yourself a favor.

ART: R. BLISS

the West Bank and Naxalite militants in India.

T e episode in question is unique, however, :
for being oneof just afew monologuesin the podcast'’s :
catalogue. Instead of the usual interview, Brett takes :
us along on an impassioned tirade in which no :
stone is lef unturned, lambasting every assumption °
and principle underpinning the ideologies and -
institutions which led to the murder of George Floyd :
and that of countless other BIPOC people in recent :
years and throughout American history—a _ history :
which, as Brett leads us to understand, has always :
been based on systems of power which fundamentally -
uphold white supremacy and capitalism (two sides ;
Articulate, compassionate, and :
atremble with arevolutionary indignation that would :
make Che Guevara proud, Brett ends this episodes :
long diatribe with an appeal that characterizes all :
his work. He asks that his listeners strive to uphold :
and live a politics of compassion and care even:
in the face of reaction and hate. It is a simple and :
sensible sentiment which, nevertheless, issometimes :

of the same coin).

forgotten by an embittered and jaded lef .

T e same feeling is echoed throughout even the :
less overtly political episodes of the podcast, such :
spirituality, :
philosophy, and ecology. Even when discussing the :
virtues of meditation or the principles and history of :
Suf sm, there is always an undercurrent of the same :
compassion and love that makes Revolutionary Lef :
Radio an inspirational joy to listen to. Frequently, :
the insight and compassion of the radicals that Brett :

as those discussing psychedelics,

works with on the show are just as moving.

T eGeorge Floyd protests in Portland began :
on May 28. | was there on the f rst night, when we:
gathered in Peninsula Park and marched downtown :
to the Justice Center, where the pigs were out in :
force, decked out in tactical gear, f ashbangs and -
tear gas at the ready. Over the following days and :
weeks, as the heat increased in Portland and across :
thenation in response to thecold calculus of abrutal :
system (working just as designed) that executes its :
BIPOC citizens with impunity, | would carry with -
me in the streets and in my home Brett O’Sheas -
appeal to revolutionary love that rung in my earsand :
resounded in my heart. A year and a half later, it still :

does.

Podcast Reviews

| started listening to the YIKES podcast

> during quarantine when my understanding of
> environmentalism was a lot less intersectional than
: itisnow. | believed that environmental disasters were
- the fault of individuals and that it was everyones
: “job” to make individual changes. Particularly, my
: previous beliefs surrounding environmentalism were
> white-centered. | thought everyone could go vegan,
> zero waste, or of -grid if they really wanted to. T e
; YIKES podcast pushed me to evaluate my perspective
: and is continuing to help me unlearn a lot of the
: beliefs | had previously held. T e YIKES podcast is
> cohosted by Mikaela Loach and Jo Becker. Loach isa
: climate activist, medical student, and writer based in
- Edinburg; Becker is an MS student in Sustainability
: and Behaviour Change with a focus on societal
: transformation also based in Edinburg. Loach and
: Becker met through Instagram and then in real life
: at the International Rebellion in October of 2019,
- and have been inseparable ever since. T e YIKES
: podcast that they co-host can be found on Spotify,
: Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. An aspect of
: the podcast | like is its use of accessible language;
: Loach and Becker make this material more accessible
: by focusing on education rather than gatekeeping. At
: the beginning of every podcast, Loach and Becker go
> over terminology that listeners may not have access
: to or education about. As a listener, the accessibility

remember the frst episode of Revolutionary :
Lef Radio that | listened to. It was released on May °
31, 2020, six days af er the murder of George Floyd, :
entitled “America on Fire.” It is 38 minutes of white :
hot revolutionary anger spit like f re from the mouth :
of Brett O’Shea, the host of the show, who primarily °
conducts interviews with radicals from a global : }
range of backgrounds and interests, engaged in every :
struggle being waged by the international lef today: :
from Wobblies in the US to Palestinian activists in :

of the podcast has helped me a lot to understand

these complex and seemingly nuanced topics
about environmentalism. Such as overpopulation
myths, environmental racism, and how capitalism
is intertwined with environmental destruction. For
this reason, and many others, T e YIKES podcast
has helped me understand how environmentalism
is connected to all social issues. T is podcast has
4 seasons, 41 episodes in total, ranging on topics
from system change to ecofascism. It can appeal
to multiple audiences because they breach a wide
variety of political conversations that many people
may experience f rsthand, or may have no experience
with. Loach and Becker invite outside expertise to
appear on the show as guests, and the guests provide
accurate information on their felds of expertise
For instance, in episode 10 “Periods, Trans Rights,
and Boundaries,” Kenny Ethan Jones was invited to
share his experiences as a trans person. He discussed
how cis people can advocate for trans people, and
shared his Instagram as an educational platform.
Guest speakers like Jones not only give listeners a
perspective outsideof thehosts, but they aremore
of en than not connected to other organizations.
Many of the guests are educators, lawyers,
therapists, political organizers, and extremely
active community members. I've learned a lot
about political organizations and educational
platforms through these guest speakers.

raging and the Rattling. ones, Moon

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UPDATED UO BOARD WHATS INSIDE...
OF TRI ISTEE S ROG | JE S Sans eeeteenerek ed een

-Anonymous
-UOYDSA

Cons off Campus & CIA Recruitment, pg. 2-3
by Eric Howanietz
& LEIlis

cE INSIDE

Protest at Grants Pass High School, pg. 4
by Azzi Lescio, students of Grants Pass

National & International News, pg. 5
By Trey Kodman
& hanzai

Forest Defense Successes, pg. 6-9
THE 2021 ROGUES GALLERY, pg. 10-11
Incarcerated Contributors, pg. 12-13
-Jamall Baker
-Shelly Hart by Angitia

| Vigils: Black Thistle Street Aid &
Transponder, ng. 14

A critical lens, pg. 14-17
-Inaccessiblity on campus by Aisling
-Fuck your land acknowledgement:

IF YOU LIKED OUR bal Ae
-Medical Misogyny by Rosie
' -TERFs Suck hy Dorian Blue
s ROGUE'S GALLERY
Reviews, pg. 18-19

Check out the hundreds and articles and lines we Tice each cache

amassed do ng research on some of the worst David Patrick Schrank Jr.

Cavitalists in Ameriva running ow university “Dune by Barbara Berkeley
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GO TO STUDENTINSURGENT.ORG -Folk Punk show by Sim

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